Ministers will analyze whether kidnapping, imprisonment and concealment of a corpse during the dictatorship are covered by legal pardon
The STF (Supreme Federal Court) is going to a face-to-face session in 4 cases that discuss whether the crimes of kidnapping, false imprisonment and concealment of a corpse committed during the military dictatorship for political reasons are covered. Minister Alexandre de Moraes requested the Presidency of the STF on Wednesday (11 March 2026) to include the cases in the face-to-face agenda. There is still no date for the trial.
The discussion arises because these crimes can be considered permanent in nature. The Amnesty Law pardoned crimes that occurred between September 2, 1961 and August 15, 1979, but these crimes can continue until the body is located or the victim’s whereabouts are not revealed.
As the processes had a formally recognized general repercussion, the STF’s understanding must necessarily be applied to similar cases being processed in all instances of the Judiciary.
MPF objection
The MPF (Federal Public Ministry) challenges decisions by the STJ (Superior Court of Justice) and the TRF (Federal Regional Court) of the 2nd Region, which considered that the crimes were covered by the Amnesty Law. The decisions determined the closure of criminal proceedings against the accused.
The MPF argues that kidnapping and false imprisonment are permanent in nature, and that those involved must be convicted of crimes during the dictatorship. The body proposed expanding the debate to crimes committed with “serious violation of human rights”.
According to the IACHR (Inter-American Court of Human Rights), forced disappearance constitutes a crime of a continuous nature, which makes it ineligible for amnesty.
The cases
Three of the processes are reported by Minister Alexandre de Moraes. The and o deal with the disappearance of former federal deputy Rubens Paiva, whose story is portrayed in the book and film “I’m Still Here”, and the journalist founder of the PCBR (Brazilian Revolutionary Communist Party). It involves the murder of the ALN (National Liberation Action) militant by the military dictatorship.
The 4th process, included by Moraes, is the one, reported by Minister Flávio Dino. The case deals with the concealment of a corpse attributed to 2 members of the Armed Forces in the Araguaia Guerrilla, which was an armed group opposing the military regime. Dino was already in a virtual session and considered that the crimes of the military dictatorship whose victims are still missing continue to be committed to this day.
