Brazilian Truth Commission has Historic Responability

“President Dilma Rousseff has taken a historic step to honor victims and ensure the people of Brazil know the full truth about the human rights abuses committed in their country,” said David Tolbert, president of ICTJ. “The pursuit of justice can only make Brazilian democracy stronger.”
ICTJ has been closely involved in the work of over a dozen truth commissions around the world and supports and congratulates the efforts of the Brazilian government and civil society to establish this institution.
The new National Truth Commission, which was signed into law by President Rousseff last November, is mandated to establish facts and responsibilities for executions, torture, disappearances, and other human rights violations committed during a four-decade period from 1946 to 1988—which includes the so-called “years of lead” under a right-wing military dictatorship, from 1964 to 1985.
The law establishing the commission requires government officials to cooperate with its work, and a new Access to Information Law also ensures that any information regarding human rights abuses cannot be classified, opening state archives for the first time. It is expected that the commission, with its broad mandate to look into gross human rights violations, will unearth massive patterns of abuse.(ictj.org)