“I have the impression that the person who executed Eduardo was there. There is a satisfaction in presenting the body and not revealing oneself as one of the perpetrators. It is almost a continuation of the torture.”
The report comes from then political activist Denise Crispim, 76, arrested and tortured in July 1970, when she was six months pregnant. She describes the day that the body of her then partner Eduardo Leite, known as , was handed over to the family.
A member of the (National Liberation Alliance), he was arrested in August 1970 and executed by the regime on December 8 of the same year. Bacuri is considered the political prisoner subjected to torture for the longest period of time: 109 days.
Their story was the subject of a decision by the IDH Court (Inter-American Court of ) handed down in July and released in December 2025. Brazil was condemned for the third time for crimes committed during the military dictatorship.
The sentence for the “lack of timely and effective criminal investigation” in the case of Denise and Bacuri. Their daughter, Eduarda Crispim Leite Ditta, and Denise’s current husband, Leonardo Ditta, are also mentioned.
On the initiative of the (Center for Justice and International Law), the case was submitted to the IACHR (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights) in 2012, and a report with measures to be complied with by the Brazilian State was issued in September 2021.
The following year, it was found that “no substantial progress had been observed” in the recommendations, and the case was sent to the Inter-American Court. Part of the human rights protection system of the (Organization of American States), the court is a judicial body established in 1979 by the Pact of San José of Costa Rica.
Denise lives in Italy, Leonardo’s homeland and where he went into exile in the 1970s. She describes the process of gathering information about the case as “dramatic”, remembering how difficult it was to return to Brazil to collect statements and gather documents from former companions.
“The process of producing evidence was very painful and unfair. The State had all the documentation, including photos of tortured people. They had all the evidence in hand, but it is the victim who has to prove it,” he said.
Carolina Cyrillo, law professor at UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) and UBA (University of Buenos Aires), states that IDH Court cases should not be subject to discussions of domestic law, in which the burden of proof lies with the accuser.
“The State is, at the same time, the violator of human rights and the one that can correct violations. […] He is obliged to produce evidence in search of the truth”, says Cyrillo. She states that Denise “had to fight to be heard”.
The NIDH (Inter-American Center for Human Rights), coordinated by the professor, took part in the action as an interested third party. The group was responsible, according to Cyrillo, for recognizing the gender perspective of the trial.
After the request, the demand began to include the surnames of Denise and her daughter Eduarda in its official nomenclature. The conviction for crimes differs from the other two in the country before the Court by treating the violations committed against them as violence against women. Denise gave birth in custody at a military hospital.
Brazil was already condemned by the same court, in 2010, for events that occurred during the Araguaia Guerrilla and, in 2018, . As Cyrilo reminds us, all cases recognize the , promulgated in 1979, as an “obstacle to the investigation of the truth”.
In 2010, the (Federal Supreme Court) rejected the amnesty review by 7 to 2. Another action, filed by PSOL in 2014 (ADPF 320), awaits judgment and has the minister as rapporteur.
There are also two theses with recognized general repercussions pending judgment. Topics 1,374, 1,375 and 1,376 discuss the possibility of amnesty for crimes classified as serious human rights violations and are reported by .
Theme 1,369, reported by , deals with the impossibility of applying the Amnesty Law to permanent crimes, such as the concealment of corpses. In the case of Bacuri, despite having been buried by family members, the militant’s remains were later removed from the site and were never found.
Carla Osmo, also a law professor at Unifesp, highlights that the prolongation of the effects of Eduardo’s death on the life of his ex-partner and her family is recognized in the sentence.
“There is an understanding of the consequences of violence of this magnitude as damage to a life project. This concept speaks of the entire disruption of a person’s life, of what they had planned for themselves and the burdens of the search for justice”, he says.
Denise celebrated the Court’s understanding of the issue. “Instead of living, you spend your life without being able to mourn,” he says. She also remembers how the search for answers got in the way of her “life project” with her current husband Leonardo. “It only worked because he loves me so much,” he says.
She hopes that her relationship with Eduarda will be positively impacted by the decision: “I want us to be able to elaborate better together and talk like two adults who have lived this experience.”
Their story is portrayed in the film “Repare Bem”, directed by and released in 2013.
