{"id":33600,"date":"2016-10-24T09:27:37","date_gmt":"2016-10-24T12:27:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=33600"},"modified":"2023-03-30T11:01:07","modified_gmt":"2023-03-30T14:01:07","slug":"a-good-criminal-is-its-time-to-demystify-human-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=33600","title":{"rendered":"A Good Bandit Is\u2026? It\u2019s Time to Demystify Human Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas\"\"<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Human rights<\/a> are universal civil, political, social, economic, and cultural rights, indivisible and inalienable. This means, simply, that they are valid for all, that under no circumstances can some\u00a0be respected and not others, and that no one can lose them, regardless of what they have done or will do.<\/h4>\n

The Brazilian Constitution<\/a> guarantees equality \u201cbefore the law, without any distinction whatsoever, guaranteeing Brazilians and foreigners residing in the country the\u00a0inviolability of the right to life, to liberty, to equality, to security and to property\u201d (Art. 5\u00ba). Furthermore, it guarantees that, \u201cno one shall be submitted to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment\u201d (Art. 5\u00ba, III) and that \u201cno one shall undergo legal proceeding or sentencing save by the competent authority,\u201d (Art. 5\u00ba, LIII) and assures that \u201cprisoners are ensured of respect to their physical and moral integrity\u201d (Art. 5\u00ba, XLIX),\u00a0among others. Despite having a system of the strongest laws to protect these rights, in practice the state systematically violates them<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In addition to having a\u00a0state that violates, Brazil has also witnessed a recent movement of a portion of the population towards rejecting the concept of human rights as the left\u2019s banner to protect criminals. These usually stress the maxim of \u201chuman rights for the right humans,\u201d as if rights were not universal, but attained through merit and good behavior<\/a>. Many even like to rebut those who position themselves against human rights violations with the slogan, \u201cif you feel sorry for them, take them home,\u201d or in another variation, \u201cadopt a thug.\u201d At the extreme, some even suggest that, \u201ca good bandit is a dead bandit” (“bandido bom \u00e9 bandido morto<\/em>“).<\/p>\n

\""Are<\/a>
“Are you a defender of human rights for criminals? Participate in the project: take a thug home with you!”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Outside of Brazil, in consolidated democracies, human rights are frequently seen as an essential base for progress, and of democracy<\/a> itself, so that such misunderstandings are less common. Here, we deconstruct five common myths surrounding human rights in Brazil:<\/p>\n

Myth 1: Human rights are for criminals<\/h3>\n

Human rights guarantee for those who are considered criminals, as well as for any person, rights such as the presumption of innocence, the right to a trial, and the right to physical integrity. They do not guarantee special treatment, unconditional liberty, or privileges. If the \u201chuman rights people,\u201d as those who stand up for human rights in Brazil are often referred, intervene to guarantee the rights of a criminal, it is not because the criminal is\u00a0right or deserves more but because he or she\u00a0is in a position of vulnerability\u00a0in which they seek\u00a0to ensure\u00a0their rights guaranteed by law.<\/p>\n

Those who\u00a0reject human rights are not advocating due punishment for crime, but rather for retribution\u00a0in the same way. And if we reciprocate in the same way, what differentiates us from a criminal? As if violence could be a means to create order? And as if we could convict a criminal by breaking our own law? To oppose human rights is to oppose the law; violating human rights is to violate the law.<\/p>\n

\""And<\/a>
“And there are people that disagree that a good criminal is a dead criminal.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When we treat\u00a0the rights of a specific citizen as relative to their situation, we are weakening the institution itself and opening the precendent for this right to be disrespected again in the future, including with any of us. It is necessary to overcome the supposed opposition between the police and human rights, and the view that rights are an obstacle to justice and combating crime. The police have a duty to protect citizens\u2014and this protection cannot be selective, nor can it be only negative, in the form of protection against violence, but it should be positive, in the way of promoting rights.<\/p>\n

If this protection could actually be\u00a0selective, who would define who should be protected and who shouldn\u2019t? Who can define which gangster should have his or her rights violated and which shouldn\u2019t? How can we let\u00a0institutions like the police which are\u00a0founded\u00a0on prejudices<\/a>\u00a0that victimize poor, black youth<\/a> more than anyone else\u00a0define who is a \u201cgood citizen?” And what of the limit of illegality that separates a \u201cgood citizen\u201d from a criminal?<\/p>\n

We cannot work from the principle that there is an essentially good side and another that is essentially bad. That some crimes are more acceptable than others. That the \u201cgood citizens\u201d merit more because they work, they pay taxes<\/a>, and they get up\u00a0early. It is only fit for the courts\u00a0to judge their crimes with a basis in a constitution that guarantees equality before\u00a0the law and universal human rights.<\/p>\n

Due to its great importance, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights<\/a>, established by the UN in 1948, influenced the majority<\/a> of constitutions of countries in the world created after its publication, and it is the most translated document in the world.<\/p>\n

Myth 2: Those who defend human rights are in favor of not arresting criminals<\/h3>\n

They are in favor, yes, of fair treatment for criminals, of prisons that are not overcrowded, and of prohibiting practices of torture. They are in favor of structural change in education<\/a> and in opportunities<\/a>\u00a0so that fewer people resort to crime, and in favor of rehabilitation for the offender after serving his sentence to be reintegrated in society and have opportunities so as to not fall back into a life of crime, creating a safer environment for all. Justice cannot be synonymous with revenge.<\/p>\n

Myth 3: That there are \u201chuman rights people\u201d<\/h3>\n

Some in Brazil have the habit of calling those who go to prisons to offer legal help and classes to prisoners, or friends who prevent others from \u201cteaching a lesson\u201d to a thief caught in the act as “human rights people.” To say that \u201chuman rights people\u201d exist is to imply that all others are not, that they are not interested in human rights for individuals.<\/p>\n

\""'Human<\/a>
“‘Human Rights people,’ are you seeing the evidence? If so, do you still have any doubt?”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In reality, the “human rights people”\u00a0are just trying to ensure equal access to the rights provided in the constitution for you and all of us. He or she is not trying to release a criminal, just trying to make sure that he or she will not be tortured or beaten<\/a>, but tried and arrested as any other citizen holder of rights would be.<\/p>\n

Myth 4: \u201cHuman rights\u201d are a leftist\u00a0motto<\/h3>\n

It was not the left, and certainly not\u00a0the\u00a0Brazilian left, that\u00a0invented \u201chuman rights\u201d or decided that they would be inalienable.<\/p>\n

Human rights in their current conception were codified in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights<\/a> in 1948. In the\u00a0context of their creation, they refer to the violations committed in the context of the World Wars, including the use of the atomic bombs and the Holocaust, and also to the context of the emergency of the Cold War, which set capitalists and communists in opposition. This is reflected in the incorporation, for example, of the rights of the citizen to property and of the right to not be arbitrarily deprived of it, among many others.<\/p>\n

\""Of<\/a>
“Of course human rights aren’t these things and are so essential! It’s just that in Brazil they’ve become in great part the chat of the left, stoners and wasters defending thugs.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Declaration is not binding, so it does not need to be ratified and it does not provide for penalties against those who violate it, but all 196 UN member-states signaled their acceptance when they entered the organization. Of the nine major international treaties that codify the principles contained in the Declaration, all UN member-states have ratified at least one.<\/p>\n

Numerous countries whose governments are center-right have human rights as important values. A symbolic example is Germany, in which human rights are a key element in constructing national identity due to the traumatic mass violations during the Nazi regime, and more recently reflected in the decision to welcome the large influx of refugees.<\/p>\n

Myth 5: There are no human rights for police and for the families of victims<\/h3>\n

Human rights are universal, that is,\u00a0they are for all, and inalienable, that is, no one can lose them. Police, their families<\/a>, and the families of victims of acts of violence are as deserving of rights as any other person, but not more than another person.<\/p>\n

Brazil has one of the police forces that most kills and most dies in the world<\/a>. In Rio de Janeiro, the State Legislative Assembly’s\u00a0Human Rights Commission<\/a> meets with families of killed police officers to provide both legal and psychological support, just as with\u00a0the families of any victim of violence.<\/p>\n

\""I've<\/a>
“I’ve never seen human rights go after the cause to protect the police, or go after the media to shout about dead police officers or good citizens.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The police need to understand that there is no opposition between police and human rights, but that human rights exist to protect the police as well. This includes not only the right to physical integrity, often threatened in their profession, but also to combat degrading and humiliating treatment within the police institution itself.<\/p>\n

Human rights are not only for right humans: they are for everyone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas Human rights are universal civil, political, social, economic, and cultural rights, indivisible and inalienable. This means, simply, that they are valid for all, that under no circumstances can some\u00a0be respected and […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":33605,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1288,1290,335,1282,328],"tags":[449,1396,479,506,25,577,203,354,534,17,1616,268,41],"writer":[2247],"translator":[2254],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-33600","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-highlight","8":"category-civilsociety","9":"category-policies","10":"category-research-analysis","11":"category-understanding-rio","12":"tag-constitution","13":"tag-criminalization-of-poverty","14":"tag-democracy","15":"tag-exclusion","16":"tag-human-rights","17":"tag-inclusion","18":"tag-inequality","19":"tag-law","20":"tag-misperceptions","21":"tag-police-brutality","22":"tag-reference","23":"tag-state-violence","24":"tag-un","25":"writer-luisa-fenizola","26":"translator-laura-fairman"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33600"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=33600"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=33600"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=33600"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=33600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}