Torture in Brazil: A Shocking Report on the Pervasive Use of Torture by Brazilian Military Governments, 1964-1979, Secretly Prepared by the Archiodese of São Paulo 9780292799424

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TORTURE IN BRAZIL

Ul!l

ILAS Special Publication

TORTURE IN BRAZIL A SHOCKING REPORT ON THE PERVASIVE USE OF TORTURE BY BRAZILIAN MILITARY GOVERNMENTS, 1964-1979 SECRETLY PREPARED BY THE ARCHDIOCESE OF SAO PAULO TRANSLATED BY JAIME WRIGHT EDITED WITH A NEW PREFACE BY JOAN DASSIN

University of Texas Press, Austin ~Institute of Latin American Studies

Originlic.lv eJtposed And sometimes you were rualrtn.F>rc For had connpasstcm you Since you A better po!>Se!>Sih translation of the BNM text that he had done in Geneva some months before. He would me sections of the text that I would then and rework on my Macintosh 128K real in Brazil in those most memory of the process is the contrast between the satisfaction I derived from 1mlr'\r£'"' 11'a the flow of the text which oetmrts while the "'~'""'"::l"'"'>T J:"~orn1guese

X

TORTURE IN BRAZIL

htPr~lllv had to lie down or walk outside after u'""'""v•ncr and even so. I could edit very small sections at a time. We finished on and I was asked to write the for the There was some which we called Torture in discussion about the title. Would we lose too much of the sentiment tmJplle~a in the Brazilian "Nunca Mais"? how could the American reader be for a into such a different and were distorted these emotional and moral concerns, I wrote a PUl['J)OISelv itself and the circumstances under which use

JJv.iJ'LIJ.1L'-'

indeed. With no guarantees peJ,SOJnal presu~~e and the research team's staunch commitment to secrecy, the BNM had the POlitical behind the 1979 law. Part of a reform of national .,.,.,. ..... ;t" Ieg.tsllittcm that freed the few and allowed

human

a few the BNM months after successor, Jose established that state had committed numerous pollltH::::allly violations in the 1964-1979

of press coverage the book's release showed how raw this nerve was. Even the late Brazilian ns,ilchroa:naHelio sounds ren1ar1cablY PJres1::::te11t when he defended the

Preface to the New Edition

xi

so-called acts

in this case, aPJ>relbertsicm maintain its moral int~=•nTiht noblest motives and humanistic tradition by aeJlourncJm)t behalf of

rep:ress•ive pra1:;t1c~es was ove~rwltlellrmntgly tailed and incriminated individuals and the entire nul'tt~ 1"'' the intent of the was not to prepare cases for prc•se(~utlon, but rather to "ensure that the the the tnJlLlStJ.ce, and the should be

It would take a decade more for the Armed Forces to admit nnl'lllr:lv-if mauec;uv-1:hat

was tantamount to an admission of respOJJSlt>Ili1ty The law victims' families the to obtain official death certificates and substantial financial restitution. It also the revision of the false death certificates of other nnlth1"'llslbed

murder weakened in Sao Bmesto Geisel to sack the hardliner comThe much-denounced death also fostered cooeratJton among the Brazilian Bar Associathe Brazilian Press Association and some the Journalists' to break the str~mgienold thPn-r\rP~o:.ut.c.nt

xii

TORTURE IN BRAZIL nre~vaJIIm.i! climate

that would

of fear and formed the core press for redemocratization

in come to a "Truth Commission." It is nnva1:e--e,ren secret-and based in the moral autno111ty retiJi!:HJus leaders who would hold the state to account for however J;!;01ver1nment aclmowlc:~dgment that torture, at:>Ciuctions. ottterret•re~;si\'e pJracucc~s were embedded in the very nrc•totlnd conviction that even voluminous evidence and co1mprenem>tvcmess of the BNM materials is still a all the cases tried in Brazilian mt1rn~1MJ March 1979. This universe contained more than one million pages coJmplet4e trJtal~~ an:d tJragme~ntftryrec:onls for dozens the entire archive was microfilmed in suiJsequc~ntly donated to the Center for Research

North American universities. All this material was !lnJuv·7P.t1 A.In

in Brazil.

Preface to the New Edition

xiii

its scruptllOllS documents under the nose at the SuJJtrenle Military the BNM team risked personal ~Jnei[V--nlr the five continuous years it took to Vl'-''"'"'''" Never sure that the unc:Jefltakmg each document as if it were the last. Hence the meticulous that went into cmnp:tlmtg dia" of torture became an antidote to this unc:ertam1tv P~ol11tiC;JtllY act of resistance that countered the Irr~ltm•nalllty In

' - U H Y J. . . ""

mt~erprettve !7lrt-ntr!::lrv

sections in the BNM text nature of the reiJ•resston.

coJnpem;ate~d

delved beneath the surface to find the rationale for the reptres;SJO!n in the dOCtrine Of national the nrl'•.v~tllf110 silence with the fine of consistent ext>lartation. All this failed to deter the critics who in the aftermath of the of the most book's Brazilian release. Aside from aue:~at:~on was that BNM was one-sided. In tocustlll~ ne books in each hand, on with beatimls stomach and on the t·eJ'llaJldO Reis Salles ,..,.,,,.,.,i,rj:l

his mouth open, in a ~as,oliJJte method was known as "the Chinese bath". Machado uo;;>,c:;v,.a,

name des1gna1te a torture to the 1976: With the of these electrical my would contract The chair turned over on the floor several times and my head hit the walt The contractions caused barl~ll~ ~l~ilnst the chair. It was this that caused that were confirmed my this kind tormenters dec •1uu. with scissors in Police head. . . that at the in a room, without any pri:soners were on; that first summoned Chael and made him kiss the accused all over, and then called Antonio Roberto to the same Nilson Pereira insisted her the accused at him as a condition for meal ...

Bar-

30 TORTURE IN BRAZIL

that she was to sexual violence in the presence and in the absence of her husband . . .

PREGNANCIES AND ABORTIONS

that the accused was blackmailed cor1ceJ-nir1g nancy, so that he would admit to the decarTiaJ~e

FOUR

MEDICAL ASSISTANCE TO TORTURE

that while he was at the barracks of the 23rd he was visited all and that he is sure someone who was that the de· that he was the medical officer the 23rd at that time because of the oea:nnJ~s kid:nev's: that said person not refused to medicate the torturers what parts of his body could a trace ...

As for me, I blanked out at dawn and learned later that I had been in a comatose state several hours because

34 TORTURE IN BRAZIL of my health as a result of tortures suffered. In the morning, I was brouldtt when the shift of OBAN workers was two doctors .... also rebut the tortures us prcteef~derd

In Rio, the same that after

examined in the "ice box" by a doctor who took she was taken to another room where she would declare that she oelonJ~ed

officers there was a doctor whose function tortured so that the torture the defendant remained where be fainted several times; in his veins that the doctor him an a violent contraction in intestines, after which torture method called tourniqu1et ornamental device to parts of the inc.luIVinJl stimulants whenever those who were fainted ..

that he was hung twice this and while there he had a heart

of

35

that a was the that it was aP.rnntlafl·ia ratory channels as a result of the electric un~ss1Lire reached 18 and and that he received massive of and also muscular tranqlLillhecome sensitive to the suttmittec:l, for after became insensitive to all en~p.nc:~er.

Sao

that after the apJ>licaticm of scientific methods that the detorture he blanked out for a apJ>roJtim:ately five that when the defendant came to in Dntl)uJa; he saw that he was in the Armed Forces that when he came to him an electrocardiogram; . . . that after his he was taken back to the barracks of the after fifteen of treatment . . .

When I was

1 was beaten

inclividuals. one of whom was in macmne, the wire of which was auact1ea and organ and the other was my anus were all commanded who to be When I could no to them that I would tell P-vF~rvthin,u the torture, I From that moment I don't remember am1thina out. I came to while I was my blood pressure. :SeJ~ge;a.nt Antonio Martins of the of the electric

I saw a medical officer

to the young man who threatened him once tllr1DUJ!:Il the same kind of young man. and if he did not resist, so that he would consciousness and he and until he would tell them what wanted or until he that he entered into a state of shock and lost his voice while in a state of that he does remember rather uonrnnllu that he was surrounded several a

36

TORTURE IN BRAZIL

machine in a room whose location he was unable to de:termine; that for several he evacuated blood while medicated the medical officer . . .

the same in that phc>tOl~aJph; TEIXEIRA sent him to a whose name he remembers as MElRELES; that this MElRELES, to what the was the man who himself had told the death certificates of dead that the doctor him after and that he must bank

de Fora,

that the defendant received blows his abdomen and also electric shocks on his scrotal zone; he was also hit in that zone; that he had to remain in a position for a int1err,ogattions; that the defendant still has scars that there was a doctor on his knees from those to treat the defendant and to massage him those ill treatments ... Gomes das Neves, 37, mOSittiOJrlS included in the court prc~eec~Oilngs Dh,rsicaJ and moral coercion, at which time white and that he

Distortion

Law

he was taken to the Souza medicated.

62 to 74 because of what some he would that if he did not where have to return to the first barracks in which he had he suffered ill-treatments . . . Luiz San Rio,

He wants to add in he made no declaration whatlimited himself to that were nrc:lsenh:~d to him . . He:nri(lUe dos Santos t_;outinb10,

The declarations the time of the

him in the D PPS were dictated of his protestts,

up to

of electric shocks on his the declaration that was nrf•stP'nh>~n , .. that he in the DPPS because he was afraid in the barracks of the Police . . .

146 TORTURE IN BRAZIL

False confessions

a certain he heard screams of a woman and the of a child mixed with intervals of music and told there~ his wife he asked that go and that wanted him to. that were included in his statements . . .

In

in

Distortion

Law 147

that he wanted to state that his declarations on page 114 of the that him had been of the current year; that those tortures were to in the beOAUJuu5, at the and at the DOI of the Second Asked if be would like to be submitted to a corpus delicti exam, the answer was because he suffered the should refracture of two ribs veal the bone r-alllnpitalirzattiml: removed for fused state and of locomotion. • Main cornplaint: headache and

pn~sentin,g

a con-

of weakness. . .

pn:~ser1te1cl, soon an acute confused state, tennpc,raJ ctJsonent:atJion, loss of the sense of and ideas of self-extermination. She had the the that the to which she had been sul:l•iected tinned without ceasing; from the and could not say nrt:•£•t«Ph! she remained in that state.

• She says that she has suffered such as Delltntgs on her abdomen and electric shocks on her head. . . . • She also coJnplaiJlS of the lack of memory for recent facts. • She says that she has been not kn1:>w:mg over her entire it was a few ago. . . .

Is

Is ...

• Mental exam: bY1PeJr-emc•tic•na1, tr·pnnf>1'lt Vlree:Dill2:. versation with a voice of silence. Difficult initial contact, of the interview. humor.

• Lack of orientation in time and still somewhat confused. of terror and Main course of • Suicidal ideas.

wife .... She detailtlmten.t, he was in a orlOIUnc::tJv shaken ps~vctaolcDgical state, unable to react to stimulation from weepin2:COllShlntJiy andshow-

to answer he with a certain amount of emotion, that had been abducted terrorists, in the presence of a That he had suffered ill-treatments at the hands of those individuals ... We nowhile he a cermin tremor in his foot. . . . He re,~arc:iin:e: cerhlin events because we do not COilSUler it opportune to insist in recall of same. CONCLUSION: The shows a reactive condition in remission. From what his wife told us, the must have been At the moment it is rD>£Ult!rD>'-' some time for a total remission.

187

188 TORTURE IN BRAZIL Those tortures also had the effect of even led me to the tel,evi.sion station to make in which I had I went to the 1V station and and I did this in a comps}rcbloJo:~cnhJsicm on account of all the of all the threats and of

torments

nrt:•n~:rPn

for was demonstrated true I was overcome tortures torturers, my condition was one of intense terror. and this led me to . . . individualistic he~ havior which was reflected in the level of collaboration I rendered to the torturers. So those tortures come information that led to the detainment of cmnnlae:s. I about all the comrades who orc•mtion of that stn1~~Je. those tortures colllat)()rate:a with the enemy who aenelm·able. While to reto free from tortures, I was now morse for all that and I remained with a tremendous contradiction: for while I had not hesitated in betravine:

Is

189

Is .

to think about what that treason had meant, not but on the as well. 2

on

because of ill-treatments

he entered into a state from that him the to take maximum care to any extreme attitude his own person, for in which he found himascertained the state of self . . . that and had to be hospitaLlizf:d ""'""~'""'"'''", in which he even

even more. in

as was

that he wants to put into the record at this nn•rvt.r+nr•itu when he was detained he rP.r•P.hrP.d lll-treatnnetltS, that is. tortures, in such a way that he became disturbed wrists and that he even tried but not in his because with a of the insufficient lesion for the desired and also because he was in time ..

190 TORTURE IN BRAZIL He was taken to the DOPS, where he suffered coercion and which he su-

Sao ""' ....... u ...... ,

he was in with a person who seemed he found out that he was Teodoro Ghestried to drive a nail

1977. the fact that the confession obtained

in a

From conversations heard the dawn hours between Pardal and I surmised that a trap was that would culminate with my death. Pardal told Laurindo that "as soon as she leaves the car to walk the 200 meters, my car will be at she won't have the time to see to to her. Ze Gomes also commented to me: "You'll faint when you find out what is in store for you. In the face of all and in order not to collaborate with the I cut my wrists ... I lost a lot of farce of '*accidental that I was about to lose my senses, the etrtHTtoarao.le cc:mditio:n, and that he died the result of the

in

that all the way from of torture one year and ten months and the death of Luiz Eduardo da Rocha Merlino in the OBAN whose death was caused tortures ...

tortures

COlrlhJrmed in court, in upon Luiz .... nn:.~1·nn

that the was carried out under moral and ph11sical coercion, to which the defendant ceased to resist after the tortures inflicted upon Luiz Eduardo da Rocha Merlino which resulted in his death within a few

HISTORY:

over

to what has been told to us, he was run

a vehicle.

JOAQUIM ALENCAR SEIXAS

that the LillElgible that her nus0a111d

on the

196

TORTURE IN BRAZIL

street is not true, because the defendant saw him inside the OBAN tortured and heard his voice and his screams; put his in a station that the defendant saw when wagon and that at that moment she heard someone ask whose answered that it was Alencar that was, and Seixas ...

He died as a result of tense shootout with organs of the ,..,......... ~~" State of Sao at 1 P.M. of 16 Avenue, Sao Paulo. HISTORY:

CARLOS NICOLAU DANIELLI

that after the three were taken to the 0 BAN, that is, Carlos Nicolau the and her were taken to three different torture rooms; that she asked them not to torture her husband because he bad tub•erc~ulo~sis, rA,..,., ... t,., come out of a sanatorium, and that he was a diatbetic: that when her husband was detained he carried a diabetic card that her husband entered into a coma and did he receive otherwise he would have died that her husband fainted and he in a state of coma called her to see that Carlos Danielli was tortured three for the defendant ... that showed the heard his screams until he defendant a with the news of the of Carlos Nicolau Danielli in a like the deaths that were in store for the defendant and her husband ...

Is After

Is ...

out of the vehicle we were taken to the Chevrolet under the of said guns, where I saw that my friend Carlos Danielli was handcuffed to another individual and that he had been the car entered the inner court of that took Carlos Danielli out of the car and beat him in front of hundreds that were there .... We were then taken into the I imlne