Modelos de justiça de transição: Argentina e Brasil

Abstract

This paper seeks to identify the transitional justice models that Argentina (1983) and Brazil (1984) adopted in their political transition process to democracy, after overcoming military regimes. From the bibliographical review on the subject of transitional justice, it was possible to know some concepts, identify various transitional mechanisms, types of transitions and some models of transitional justice followed by some States that, during regime transition, had to deal with a legacy of past abuses. The analysis of the countries under study – Argentina and Brazil – showed that while the Brazilian transition is largely controlled by the military government (transition from above); the argentine transition results from the collapse of the military regime itself (transition by collapse) and the government, despite attempts, was not able to control the transition. In Argentina there was no liberalization stage and the transition to democracy was relatively rapid, with a clear break with the military regime. In Brazil, the process is characterized by slow political opening (with the relaxation of repression and the gradual reestablishment of basic civil and political rights); with the transition to democracy being consolidated, in fact, in the civil government (1985) and with a certain continuity of the military regime. Between the countries (Argentina and Brazil) there are significant differences in the political strategies that the democratic governments adopted to deal with the serious human rights violations perpetrated during the military regimes. The justice mechanisms adopted at the beginning of Argentina's democracy (investigation commissions and trials) and during Brazil's political opening (the Amnesty Law) shape the transitional justice model in each country. While Argentina tended towards the punitive model (based on criminal accountability); Brazil tended towards the model of oblivion, based on omission and maintenance of the status quo. With regard to the different initial political strategies in the cases of Argentina and Brazil, it can be said that they reflect viable choices, in terms of the balance of power and political will, at that historical moment; and that these initiatives outlined the respective models of justice. The cases demonstrate that the rebalancing of forces over time promotes the redefinition of the model, with new demands for transitional justice.