Federal Public Prosecution Service asks the state government and police to guarantee the union’s immediate and permanent access to the property
The MPF (Federal Public Prosecution Service) recommended to the MGI (Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services) and the Union’s Heritage Secretariat to adopt, within 60 days, the measures to transform the former Dops building (Department of Political and Social Order) into a Memory Center in Defense of Human Rights and Social Groups victims of state violence.
The property was donated to the extinct state of Guanabara in the 1960s, on the condition of use for police purposes and with an obligation to preserve. However, the building has not fulfilled its destination and has been abandoned for over 15 years, in a state of precarious conservation.
According to the MPF’s recommendation, a technical opinion of the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship concluded that the conditions of the assignment were failed, which justifies the reversal of the property to the federal heritage.
One was instituted in March 2024, from the representation of the collective. On June 17 of that year, the MPF coordinated a technical visit, with the presence of representatives from various institutions and found the critical state of deterioration of the property.
In the building, there were also elements of memory still preserved, such as old jails and original documentation. The diagnosis reinforced the urgency of concrete measures to ensure the integrity of the physical structure and the documentary collection.
“The transformation of this space into a memory center is a measure of justice and historical reparation”,, in a statement, the Regional Attorney for Assistant Citizen Rights Julio Araujo. For him, to preserve this property is to affirm the commitment of the Brazilian state to truth, democracy and human rights. “Places like the old DOPS cannot be forgotten or erased. They need to be reframed as spaces of resistance, memory and learning for future generations”he wrote.
Collection
The MPF also asks the State of Rio de Janeiro and the Civil Police do not impose obstacles to the Union’s action in the property and guarantee immediate and permanent access to the necessary preservation actions.
During the inquiry, SEPOL (Rio de Janeiro State Secretariat of Civil Police) admitted that it was not able to adopt preservation measures and demonstrated willingness to the dialogue. The MDHC also expressed interest in signing an agreement with the state government to enable the transformation of the building into a memory center, with support and financing.
Memory
The building has deep symbolic, historical and political value. Since the early 20th century, it was an important space from which policies of criminalization of the black population came out in the post-abolition, by shuttle, capoeiragem and other crimes, especially a center of torture during the dictatorship.
The persecution of African matrix religions resulted in seizure of sacred objects whose release was only possible in 2020, after the campaign released our sacred, acting by the MPF.
With information from.
