Democratic Consolidation and Human Rights in Brazil

Thirteen years ago the authoritarian regime in Brazil came to an end and the civilian transition government was installed. Three years later the Constitution of 1988 was promulgated with the most comprehensive and specific bill of rights in Brazilian political history. Today, despite the democratic guarantees in effect since then, the country is still ravaged by systemic violence in which the arbitrary actions of State institutions are combined with high rates of violent criminality, organized crime, intense physical aggression in conflicts among citizens, and a climate of generalized impunity. This paper evaluates the improvements in terms of political and civil rights that democratization has brought to Brazil as well as the serious problems that remain. The author raises the issue of the links between violence and economic and social inequality and examines the actual practice of the institutions that are supposed to apply the rule of law equally to all citizens—the police, the judicial system, and prisons. In conclusion he comments on the important roles of both civil society and the state in raising awareness of and upholding human rights.