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Related: About this forumBrazil president to receive apologies for human rights abuses she suffered
Brazil president to receive apologies for human rights abuses she suffered
By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, May 18, 1:23 PM
SAO PAULO The Rio de Janeiro state government said Friday it will apologize to Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff for the human rights abuses she suffered during the countrys 1961-1985 dictatorship.
Rousseff is a former leftist guerrilla who spent three years in prison during the dictatorship and was tortured.
Paula Pinto, a spokeswoman for Rios Social Assistance and Human Rights Department, said Rousseff is one of 120 people who will receive apologies from governor Sergio Cabral on June 4 for the imprisonment and torture they or their relatives suffered in the state.
Rousseff and the others will also receive the equivalent of $10,000 under a compensation law passed in 2001, she said, adding that the president plans to donate the money to charity.
More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/brazil-president-to-receive-apologies-for-human-rights-abuses-she-suffered/2012/05/18/gIQAIvxwYU_story.html
Judi Lynn
(160,656 posts)during the time she was being kept as a prisoner for her leftist activities. You note some of the judges hide their faces. They should!
She had been tortured relentlessly on a very over-used Brazilian torture device, used from the early slave days in Brazil, "Pau de Arara," or "Parrot's Perch," shown in the following photo:
[center]
"Pau de Arara" monument to remind Brazilians
of the triumph over the fascist military dictatorship.
(That dictatorship was supported by the U.S., incidently,)
[/center]
ocpagu
(1,954 posts)These may be the first steps. Recognition of torture is already a victory.
Unfortunately, we can expect the mainstream Brazilian press to call her a "leech" for accepting the compensation, even though she intends to donate the money to charity. At least, they no longer classify her as a "terrorist" or "murderer" as they used before her victory in 2010.
Thank you Judi.