A/HRC/31/57/Add.4 only one led to a conviction. He strongly encourages Congress to approve bill No. 4.471 of 2012, which abolishes “resistance to arrest followed by death” (auto de resistência) and similar mechanisms. 62. In penitentiary facilities, the death rate (homicides, and accidental and natural deaths) is very high. According to Infopen, in the first half of 2014, 565 deaths were registered, of which about half were intentional deaths, equivalent to 167.5 per 100,000 per year; in one State, the rate was as high as 1,502 per 100,000 per year. Reportedly, such deaths occur primarily in the context of prison riots, some of which are reportedly staged by agents, and gang-related inmate violence, during which the perpetrators may be inmates, prison guards or police members sent in to control the insurgence. 63. In 2014, the trial for the 1992 riot in the Carandiru Penitentiary, in which 111 prisoners were killed following a violent intervention by military police, was concluded. Eighty-four police officers were convicted. Carandiru was demolished in 2002. Following the initiation of the trial in 2013, the number of deaths in prisons caused by violence by State agents is said to have dropped. 64. The Ministry of Justice has issued protocols for investigations of homicides in general, a welcome step in breaking the cycle of impunity. There are no specific protocols in place, however, for investigating homicides that are prima facie attributable to law enforcement or corrections agents. By contrast, in such cases significant efforts are undertaken to “make them invisible”. Impunity for acts of torture and ill-treatment and deaths in custody 65. The Special Rapporteur notes that Brazil has made recent strides in the struggle to overcome the all-pervasive impunity for the serious crimes committed by State agents during the military dictatorship (1964-1984), including the valuable work of the Commission of Amnesty within the federal Ministry of Justice and the strongly worded report of the national truth commission released in 2014. 66. Law No. 9.455 of 1997 defines the crime of torture and establishes corresponding sanctions. The Special Rapporteur notes, however, that there is a long way to go in the fight against impunity. Currently, cases of law enforcement agents who commit abuses against detainees and inmates are not investigated in any meaningful way and such perpetrators are rarely brought to justice. No independent investigation mechanism is in place to prevent cases from simply being filed away. 67. He learned of cases of administrative disciplinary measures, and of initiation of prosecutions. For the most part, however, agents accused of serious crimes, including torture, had not been arrested, or, if arrested, had soon been released. 68. Moreover, the Special Rapporteur notes with concern that cases involving violations committed by military agents against civilians are tried in military courts (although the latter include some civilian magistrates). When the suspect is a member of the civil police, jurisdiction lies with ordinary criminal courts. 69. Obstacles remain to implementing the 2010 decision of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the case of Gomes Lund v. Brazil, which declared the incompatibility of how the amnesty law is applied with the obligations of Brazil under the American Convention on Human Rights. 70. The Special Rapporteur notes that impunity for torture, in addition to its other negative impacts, contributes to an increase in violent crime, as offenders resist arrest rather than surrendering to face torture, or seek revenge for the torture suffered. Impunity thereby creates risks to the life and personal integrity of law enforcement agents. The spiral of criminal violence that affects Brazil is only exacerbated by the prevailing impunity. 12

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