The Chamber of Mediation and Conciliation of the (Attorney General of the Union) will file the request to keep confidential documents relating to the murder of former deputy Rubens Paiva, persecuted and killed by the .
In July 2025, the CGU (Comptroller General of the Union) ordered the Army to make functional files available for soldiers accused of torturing and murdering Paiva. At the time, the agency gave 30 days to send the documents. The Force requested a review.
People familiar with the case say Sheet that the perception is that the Army seeks to gain time and delay the dissemination of information, since the topic should not have gone to this sector of the AGU, but rather to Conuni (National Consultancy of the Uniformization Union), which works in situations of divergence in the legal understanding of processes.
With the filing, the case will now go to deliberation by the Union’s general consultant, Augusto Dantas, who may indicate that the matter goes to Conuni.
When contacted by the report, the Army stated that the procedure requested by the Force is not intended to deny or delay access to the requested information, but to protect sensitive data and establish the conditions and details of the possible provision of data, “especially with regard to personal information of military personnel”, says a note sent to Sheet.
According to the Army’s understanding, the provision of data of a sensitive nature, related to the personal sphere of soldiers and with “potential impact on hierarchy and discipline”, goes beyond the scope of the original request.
As the Public Transparency column showed, from Sheetthe Army after the General Comptroller maintained the understanding that the documents, requested by the transparency platform Ficam Sabendo, should be opened in full.
Until then, the information had only been made available partially, through extracts (summaries prepared by the Army itself).
The administrative decisions handed down by the CGU remain valid and have not been object of conciliatory negotiations to suspend its effects.
Understand the case
The platform Ficam Sabendo requested the records of the soldiers involved in the case from the Army and was denied. In July 2025, the CGU issued a decision considered historic in recognizing the clear public interest in access to information, obliging the sending of information.
With the decision, the controller also ruled out any allegations of risk to institutional security and the need to protect privacy in cases of human rights violations.
The control body gave the Army 30 days to deliver the full functional records. Until then, Ficam Sabendo had only obtained the information made available in the summaries, the extracts, in the first half of 2025.
With this preliminary data, it was discovered that the five were promoted after the murder, three received formal commendations, and all ended up transferred to the reserve, with the right to retirement and pensions for their families.
The story of Rubens Paiva and his family was told in the works of his son, the writer. One of them, “I’m Still Here”, was made into a film, which won the Oscar for Best International Film. The success even had repercussions on actions by the federal government.
In January 2025, the Ministry of Human Rights and the Special Commission on Political Deaths and Disappearances decided to hold an official apology ceremony to the family of Rubens Paiva and 413 others who disappeared during the regime.
In the same month, the AGU itself, awarded annually to personalities who have demonstrated, through their professional, intellectual, social or political activities, a significant contribution to strengthening the democratic regime in Brazil.
In February, the president () and the first lady gathered authorities and Rubens Paiva’s family to watch the film at Palácio da Alvorada.
