Current human rights challenges were the topic of an online event promoted by Unicamp Human Rights Executive Board (DeDH). The activity, held on April 1st, marked the launch of the fifth volume of the Jurema Collection, Interdisciplinary debates on law and human rights: impasses, risks and challenges. The oral presentations were given by Cláudia Dadico, from the Associação Juízes para a Democracia (AJD), Maria Victoria Benevides, sociologist and professor at the University of São Paulo (USP) and William Laureano, from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). ).
The book, available online, resulted from the International Human Rights Law Course held in 2021, an initiative by DeDH in agreement with the Public Ministry of Labor of the 15th Region. The course was organized in partnership with the Research Group on Democracy, Law and Memory of the Institute of Advanced Studies of USP (GPDH/IEA-USP), the Institute of Public Policies and International Relations of Unesp (IPPRI-Unesp) and the Center of Contemporary Culture Studies (CEDEC). All classes can be watched on DeDH Youtube channel.
The texts that make up the volume are written by teachers and students of the course. Andrei Koerner, professor at the Unicamp Institute of Philosophy and Sciences (IFCH), was one of the book's organizers. He opened the event by explaining the publication's proposal and addressing the emergence of new challenges for human rights.
“The book deals with difficult topics we face today. To historically unresolved issues and the emergence of the pandemic were added the federal government's threats to democracy and the rule of law that have been restarted in recent days. Furthermore, we have a serious international crisis triggered by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.”
Also participating in the opening session were Ariana Nunes Ferreira (Deputy Chief of Staff), Carolina Cantarino Rodrigues, (Deputy Coordinator of DCult) and Wagner Romão (deputy director DeDH).
Connection between freedom of expression and other rights
Claudia Dadico, federal judge member of the AJD, started the panel by addressing the topic of freedom of expression. From the sender's point of view, she said, “it is possible to situate the need to freely express feelings, ideas, convictions as an inherent need for any human being.” Therefore, freedom of expression is connected to the subject’s right to be themselves.
Furthermore, it would allow the exercise of other rights. From the right to freedom of expression, for example, comes the fundamental right of access to quality information, which allows contact with different schools of thought, implementing “the fundamental principle of pluralism”. Attacks on journalists and the press, which have intensified in recent years, are a threat to these rights, as is media concentration and the granting of concessions to political groups.
Anti-democratic expressions and hate speech were also addressed by Claudia. Freedom of expression, she stressed, is linked to the principle of human dignity. Therefore, attacks on minorities, for example, cannot be anchored in this right. “Content that is directed towards annihilation, the exclusion of others, the extermination of others or a group of subjects cannot be understood as a legitimate exercise of freedom. The right rooted in human dignity cannot be used to suppress the dignity of others.”
Speeches of anti-democratic expression, denial or revisionism in relation to the dictatorship, indicated the judge, do not fall within the valid limits of freedom of expression. “This right cannot be understood as detached from other dimensions, such as equality, human dignity and diversity, which must guide democratic coexistence”.
Advances and setbacks in human rights
Professor Maria Victoria Benevides has been following the issue of human rights and democracy in Brazil for 30 years. Based on this path, she outlined a history of the discussion in Brazil, starting from the period of the military dictatorship. “I would like to remember that, until the 1980s, the issue of human rights was limited to certain groups in society, with emphasis on religious groups, such as the Justice and Peace Commission, and a group of valued lawyers who defended political prisoners, many of whom which were terribly tortured.”
When she was a student, the sociologist observed, there was no talk of human rights. They began to enter the agenda more strongly during the period of redemocratization. “This path is relatively short in Brazilian history, and reached its peak with the Constituent Assembly and the Constitution promulgated in 1988”.
For the teacher, it is necessary to understand human rights as State policy. The materialization of this proposal went through several governments, from the 1990s to 2016. However, it has been secondary by the federal government since then. “Human rights is not a benefit, it is a State policy. But, for some time now, at the Executive level, it has become secondary. And there are cases of rape of all kinds.”
One of the challenges today, according to her, is to mobilize the National Congress to defend and promote human rights policies. “Democracy, like human rights, are historical processes. And this process is currently going through an extremely delicate moment, with many risks and challenges.”
The black, poor and peripheral population, the professor assessed, is the most threatened in Brazil today. “It is a very serious case of violation of rights. We have many groups, movements and NGOs that deal with the issue of structural racism. It remains, in my opinion, a priority in the sense of direct violence, which not only humiliates, it kills”.
Human rights violations among the prison population were also addressed by the professor. Regarding advances, she highlighted the expansion of rights for women and LGBTQIA+ groups. “Obviously, it’s not yet excellent, but now it’s reprehensible to have chauvinist, sexist, homophobic behavior.”
International protection for refugees
Currently, 82.4 million people are forcibly displaced from their countries of origin. The changes in their international reception were the focus of the presentation by William Laureano, from UNHCR, a UN organization that provides assistance to refugees. He outlined the history of refuge over the last century, highlighting the creation of the Agency in 1950 and the adoption of the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees in 1951.
The creation of UNHCR, he said, was based on the need to guarantee protection to refugees. “UNHCR intends to guarantee that anyone exercises the right to seek and receive asylum in another country and, if they wish, to return to their country of origin”, he pointed out.
International protection, in this sense, refers to the protection of refuge. “For those who leave their country of origin and are forced to move, being considered a refugee crystallizes the ideal of protection.” In the 1951 Convention, three principles guide the issue: non-return to the place where there is a risk, solidarity and international cooperation.
The UNHCR representative highlighted that, even with the pandemic and border closures, the number of refugees has increased in recent years. Conflicts in Afghanistan, Venezuela, Syria, Mauritania, Somalia, to which the invasion of Ukraine is now added, are causing a continuous increase in displacement.
Protective legislation and refugee protection institutions were consolidated in the 20th century, William recalled. However, there are changes that weaken this set of regulations. Firstly, the selectivity of measures, since there is greater solidarity between some groups, a problem often linked to racial issues. Secondly, the preference for voluntary repatriation, which means the voluntary return of the refugee to their country of origin, compared to resettlement, which provides for their permanent settlement in another country.
Finally, he highlighted the problem of temporary logic in the face of status of refuge. “This logic reduces protection levels. It does not always guarantee non-return, or guarantees it for a short time, and does not necessarily bring all the procedural guarantees that the refuge offers”.
Jurema Collection
The book Interdisciplinary debates on law and human rights: impasses, risks and challenges is the fifth volume of the Jurema Collection, an initiative of the Directorate of Culture of the Dean of Extension and Culture (PROEC) and DEDH. It was organized by professor Andrei Koerner (IFCH/Unicamp), Paulo César Endo (Institute of Psychology/USP) and Carla Cristina Vreche (IFCH/Unicamp).
The collection can be accessed here
