Em busca de justiça de transição: a autolegitimação histórica das iniciativas de persecução penal do MPF

Abstract

This thesis results from the development of a research project, at the Academic Doctoral level, linked to the Culture, Migration and Work Research Line of the Post-Graduation Program in History of the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM). The general objective of the thesis is to synthesize the formulation of the condition of historical self-legitimation of the initiatives of criminal prosecution of the MPF, within the framework of the proposal of compliance with the judgment of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, delivered in November 2010, on the Gomes Lund v. Brazil. In order to do so, the first chapter deals with the emergence of the Public Prosecutor's Office in Brazil and changes in its institutional profile over time, as well as the formulation of the transitional justice field in the country. Thus, the chapter presents a brief historical overview of the emergence of the Public Prosecutor's Office and its development as a public institution focused on preserving the integrity of the legal system and diffuse and collective rights, in order to guarantee smoothness in the treatment of public assets as well as for the protection of the democratic regime. At the same time, it seeks to demonstrate how much the institution, through its members, has achieved in terms of promoting initiatives for reparation and accountability of agents of States involved in the practice of human rights violations, during the Civil- Military Dictatorship. The second chapter aims at understanding the emergence of the Transitional Justice Working Group, within the framework of the 2nd MPF Coordination and Review Chamber, as well as the elaboration and homologation of institutional theses aimed at the criminal prosecution of human rights violations practiced by state agents in the context of the Civil-Military Dictatorship in Brazil. The third chapter presents a historical analysis of the twenty-seven cases of systematic violations of human rights (concealment of the corpse, forced disappearance, murder and torture) practiced during the Civil-Military Dictatorship, which became objects of the criminal prosecution initiatives of the MPF. In this chapter, it is evident how the institutional theses, elaborated within the scope of the 2nd MPF Coordination and Review Chamber, support the search for transitional justice in the face of the systematic and generalized violence employed by state agents. Finally, it should be pointed out that, in the fourth chapter, the study of the reception by the Federal Justice of the set of cases of human rights violations, which represents the greatest effort made by the Brazilian State to date investigate and hold responsible repressive agents, directly involved in crimes committed during the Civil-Military Dictatorship.