The plenary approved, on Monday night (2), a bill that creates the criminal type of “crime of forced disappearance of a person”. The proposal returns to the Federal Senate.
The text was approved in the form of the substitute presented by rapporteur Orlando Silva (PCdoB-SP), which toughened the penalties. The proposal was authored by senator Vital do Rêgo (PMDB-PB) and was presented in 2013.
The proposal provides that the sentence could vary from 10 to 30 years. The penalty is increased, for example, if there is a means of torture, if it results in death and if the agent is a public servant carrying out his duties.
“It is worth highlighting and recognizing that the forced disappearance of people constitutes one of the most heinous types of human rights violations. This is due to its high capacity to impose, on a continuous basis, suffering, anguish, psychological damage and uncertainty on the victims’ families, as well as the community that surrounds them”, highlighted the rapporteur in his opinion.
The text provides that the crime of forced disappearance of people “is of a permanent nature, being considered consummated as long as the person is not released or their fate, condition and whereabouts are not clarified, even if they have already died”. If it becomes law, the crime would be imprescriptible.
The analysis of the proposal in the plenary of the Chamber of Deputies was marked by mentions of the military dictatorship. The opposition accused the government base of revanchism, by opening up space for the criminal offense to include those benefiting from the Amnesty Law.
The opposition tried to approve an amendment to include in the text a provision that the criminal classification would not apply to those benefiting from the amnesty and to remove the section that provided that the crime of forced disappearance would be imprescriptible. The changes were rejected.
