Workers’ Party (PT) Statement: UN Decision Should be Obeyed

The preliminary ruling announced today, August 17th, by the UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC), demanding respect for president Lula’s political rights, including the right for him to freely run for office, has to be obeyed in light of the international treaties signed by Brazil and in light of our legislation.

On June 16th, 2009, Congress incorporated the United Nations Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights into our law, through Legislative Decree 311. Since then, obeying whatever is determined by the UNHRC is mandatory in Brazil.

It is with indignation, therefore, that we witness a manifestation by the coup government’s  Justice Minister that there is “undue interference” by the UN. This cannot be treated as interference, but as a sovereign decision that we have the obligation to obey. It is embarrassing to Brazil that this Minister is accusing the world’s highest human rights authority of political plotting.

It is also with indignation that we received a note from the Itamaraty Palace falsely stating that, “the conclusions of the Committee are recommendations and therefore not legally binding.” This is another foreign policy sham committed by the coup government.

The UNHRC, headquartered in Geneva, has been  analyzing Lula’s lawyers’ petition complaining of the judicial persecution that he has been victim of since September 2016. The complaints include arbitrary actions by the Federal Police and the Operation Car Wash Public Prosecutors, the curtailment of the defense, illegal wire taps, false plea bargain testimonies and Lula’s conviction for committing “undetermined acts” in the rulings by Sergio Moro and the 4th Federal Regional Court, as well as a series of other human rights violations.

After a long period of examination which including hearing the Brazilian government’s arguments twice, today the Committee decided that Lula’s political rights are indeed being threatened, and that he can not be prevented from running in the elections and having ample access to the media while there is no final sentence given after a fair trial.

The only thing that Lula has requested since the beginning of the hateful campaign against him was this: a fair trial. Unfortunately for the image of Brazil in the world, he had to appeal to the highest human rights court in the world so that this right could be finally recognized.

There is no way of hiding from the world, the violence that has been practiced by sectors of the Brazilian judiciary in collaboration with Globo, the other big media companies and the coup government. Either obey the UN’s decision or throw Brazil once and for all onto the list of nations that do not have the rule of law or democracy.

Gleisi Hoffmann, National President of the Workers Party

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