State Violence in Brazil: Execution, Slaughter, and Disappearance in the Post-Authoritarian Era

Abstract

In this chapter, the authors seek to analyse the manifestations of state violence in Brazil in the post-transition period following the 1964-1985 authoritarian regime. First, some of the possible causes of violence in the country are briefly discussed, highlighting elements of a structural nature and others related to the legacy of the authoritarian period. In a second section, the so-called May Crimes of 2006, are examined, in which execution, slaughter, and disappearance took place. A third section of the chapter examines the process of social mobilisation that occurred as a response to these crimes, particularly the strategy used by the families of victims to appeal to the Inter-American human rights system to seek justice after frustrated efforts for investigation and justice within the country.