ARTICLE 19 Brazil and South America thank the Special Rapporteur for the report on her visit to Brazil. We had the pleasure to accompany the Special Rapporteur’s visit alongside other civil society organisations and networks, such as the Brazilian Committee of Human Rights Defenders and the Escazu Brazil Movement. The visit was an important moment for civil society in Brazil.
As the report shows, Brazil faces many challenges with regards to the protection of those who raise their voices to defend human rights, particularly those who face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, including based on their gender identity, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or territory. The exercise of the right to freedom of expression can be met with violence, including for the journalists that cover and defend human rights.
During the visit, we highlighted the need for the better implementation of public policy for the protection for human rights defenders, environmental defenders, and journalists and social communicators. We briefed the Special Rapporteur on the important work of Sales Pimenta Working Group – which we also participated in – for the development of a National Protection Plan for those groups. Since the visit, this plan has been finalised but now requires the federal government to formally make it law.
We urge the Brazilian government to effectively and promptly implement the recommendations in the visit report, including by prioritising the implementation of the proposals put forward by the Sales Pimenta Working Group.