Response letter to the European Parliament

Dear Members of the European Parliament,

Subject: Contradictory letter from Brazilian Vice-President maintain authoritarian risks to national democracy

The undesigned Brazilian social organizations hereby express their appreciation for the joint positioning of the 68 MEPs, submitted last November 26, to the Brazilian government. The support of Members of the European Parliament is of fundamental importance to civil society in Brazil, which has been facing a dire scenario, especially over the last two years.

At this time, we also submit the outlook of a broad spectrum of social organizations, with activities throughout Brazil, which pursue wide-ranging agendas. This outlook contradicts the position taken by the vice-president of the Republic and chairman of the National Council for the Legal Amazon, Hamilton Mourão, in the open letter sent by him to the European Parliament on November 27, 2020.

The current federal administration, of which the vice-president is a central figure, was elected on the promise of “ending all types of activism in Brazil” and regrets “not being able to kill this cancer called NGO”. This administration published Provisional Measure No. 870, on their first day in office, back in 2019. Among other actions, this Provisional Measure allowed the federal government to “supervise, coordinate, monitor and follow up on the activities and actions of international entities and non-governmental organizations in the national territory”. Submitted in general terms, the provisional measure authorized government interference in social organizations and, fortunately, was rejected by the National Congress, thanks to the work of social entities and various leaders and political parties.

The same administration banned, through Decree 9,759/2019, hundreds of councils and other committees linked to the federal public administration, which were of fundamental importance to allow social participation and control. Many of the councils that escaped the ban, ended up excluding representatives of social organizations from their composition, which is what happened to the National Environment Fund, the National Drug Council and the National Council for the Rights of Children and Adolescents.
High-ranking members of the federal government repeatedly make unfounded and irresponsible accusations against prestigious organizations and social leaders, such as when they accused those leaders of setting forests on fire, spilling oil on the Brazilian coast and violating national security, simply because they criticized the government before the international community. The Federal Attorney's Office has been used several times as a tool to harass environmentalists, journalists and scientists that are critical of the government. The government went as far as to send spies to the Climate Change Conference - COP 25 to scrutinize the actions of Brazilian environmentalists. There has been a huge number of attacks on civil society in the past two years, as can be seen from the clipping attached to this letter, which compiles many of them.

Within this context, we are alarmed by the enacting of any rule that allows the federal government to restrict the autonomy of Brazilian civil society. The letter of reply sent by the vice-president to this Parliament is contradictory. It claims that the government has no intention of restricting or controlling civil society organizations that are working “legally” in the Amazon, but states, without further explanation, that it intends to improve the “institutional framework” in order to promote a more “coordinated and organized interaction” between civil society and the Brazilian government. This, in other words, means to promote greater control. The relationship between social entities and the State is already regulated and supported by the Federal Constitution and the Civil Society Organizations Regulatory Framework.

The measure is based on alleged “insecurity, informality and lack of information that hinder work in the Amazon region”, even after repeated attacks against federal research institutes such as the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) and the weakening of the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA), which is the entity primarily responsible for the implementation of the national environmental policy.

Attacks on the freedom of organization, expression and the press, on social participation forums and on the mechanisms that ensure transparency and social control have ominous effects, not only by directly weakening Brazilian democracy, but also by affecting our ability to preserve the environment and guarantee the human rights of minority groups, seen as enemies of the government, as in the case of indigenous and traditional populations.

For these reasons, the organizations listed below hereby ask the European Parliament to help them in the international dissemination of information about the situation faced by the Brazilian democracy and to support the charges and actions submitted by Brazilian civil society entities to multilateral bodies concerning violations by the federal government against human rights and democratic freedom.

This letter is signed by:

1. ABI - Associação Brasileira de Imprensa
2. Ação Educativa
3. Aliança Nacional LGBTI+
4. All Out Brasil
5. APIB - Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil
6. Apremavi
7. Artigo 19
8. Ashoka
9. Associação da Parada do Orgulho GLBT de São Paulo
10. Atados
11. BV RIO
12. Centro de Convivência É de Lei
13. Centro de Trabalho Indigenista - CTI
14. Climainfo
15. Conectas Direitos Humanos
16. Delibera Brasil
17. Educafro Brasil
18. Engajamundo
19. FOAESP - Fórum das Ong Aids do Estado de São Paulo
20. Frente Favela Brasil
21. Fundação Avina
22. Fundação Grupo Esquel Brasil
23. Fundação Tide Setubal
24. GELEDÈS - Instituto da Mulher Negra
25. Gestos – Soropositividade, Comunicação e Gênero
26. Greenpeace Brasil
27. Grupo de Trabalho da Sociedade Civil Para Agenda 2030
28. IAB - Instituto dos Advogados Brasileiros
29. ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability
30. ICV - Instituto Centro de Vida
31. IDDD - Instituto de Defesa do Direito de Defesa
32. IDS - Instituto Democracia e Sustentabilidade
33. IDSB - Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Baiano
34. IEB - Instituto Internacional de Educação do Brasil
35. Imaflora
36. Instituto 5 Elementos - Educação para a Sustentabilidade
37. Instituto Alana
38. Instituto Cidade Democrática
39. Instituto Cidades Sustentáveis
40. Instituto de Referência Negra Peregum
41. Instituto Ethos - Empresas e Responsabilidade Social
42. Instituto Igarapé
43. Instituto Não Aceito Corrupção
44. Instituto Nossa Ilhéus
45. Instituto Physis - Cultura e Ambiente
46. ISA - Instituto Socioambiental 
47. Instituto Update
48. Instituto Vladimir Herzog
49. IPÊ - Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas
50. Marcha Mundial por Justiça Climática / Marcha Mundial do Clima
51. Mater Natura - Instituto de Estudos Ambientais
52. Movimento Mapa Educação
53. MTST - Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Teto
54. Nova Central Sindical de Trabalhadores - NCST
55. Observatório do Clima
56. Ocupa Política
57. Open Knowledge Brasil
58. Oxfam Brasil
59. Projeto Hospitais Saudáveis - PHS
60. Projeto Saúde e Alegria
61. Pública Central do Servidor
62. Rede Brasileira de Conselhos - RBdC
63. Rede Conhecimento Social
64. Rede Justiça Criminal
65. SPVS - Sociedade de Pesquisa em Vida Selvagem e Educação Ambiental
66. TETO Brasil
67. Transparência Brasil
68. UNE - União Nacional dos Estudantes
69. Uneafro Brasil
70. WWF - Brasil
71. 342 Amazônia
72. 342 Artes
73. 350.org