Brazilian lawmakers approve truth commission

After years of political debate, the Brazilian Congress last Wednesday passed a law to begin an official inquiry into the human-rights violations committed during the 1964-85 military dictatorship.

In a unanimous vote, lawmakers have given the nod for the creation of a Truth Commission, which has been handed the exclusive task to carry out a "truthful historic reconstruction," according to the text. The measure has the support of President Dilma Rousseff's government. Rousseff, a leftist who was once linked to a guerrilla group, was jailed and tortured for two years during the dictatorship.

According to Maria do Rosário Nunes, minister for human rights, Congress approved a text that could lead to "a rewriting of history."

Until now, the crimes that were perpetuated during those dark years have not been investigated for fear that any inquiry would upset the military, which only relinquished power 20 years ago.

The law was passed late at night after Rousseff stepped in to mediate. She had been in New York for the UN General Assembly, but her spokesman said that the Brazilian leader was constantly on the phone with lawmakers back home.

Operation Condor

The new Truth Commission opens the way for an investigation into the atrocities and violations committed under Operation Condor, the notorious coordinated effort by South American military dictators in the 1970s to oppress and ferret out their opponents. The plan allowed then-military leaders of Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, with the help of the CIA, to arrest and persecute the opposition in those countries. The new Brazilian law will allow for the investigations of crimes committed by the country's former dictators in other nations.

The law was passed after a consensus was reached between lawmakers, the government and military officials after it was agreed that the 1979 Law of Amnesty would not be repealed. Among the aspects of the new law is help for the families of the missing victims to track down what happened to their loved ones or to try to find where they are buried. The families have been fighting for years to set up such a commission.

It is estimated that between 300 and 500 political victims were killed in Brazil - a lower number than the estimated 10,000 in Chile and 30,000 in Argentina during the 1970s and 1980s.