Brazil's Comptroller General's Office (CGU) orders the Army to release the files of soldiers accused of killing Rubens Paiva.
The Army had denied full access to the files, claiming that the documents contain personal information and security matters.
247 - By order of the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU), the Army will have 30 days to present the complete service records of the eight military personnel accused of involvement in the assassination of former federal deputy Rubens Paiva during the military dictatorship. informs columnist Mônica Bergamo in Folha de S. Paulo.
The decision fulfills a request from the NGO Fiquem Sabendo, made through the Access to Information Law (LAI). Rubens Paiva was kidnapped by the military from his home in 1971 and was never seen again. The case gained recent visibility with the film Ainda Estou Aqui (I'm Still Here), which portrays the struggle of his wife Eunice Paiva and their children to seek justice.
The Army had denied full access to the files, claiming that the documents contain personal information and security matters. Instead of handing over the original records, the organization released only selected extracts from the defendants' files.
The CGU, under the leadership of Minister Vinicius de Carvalho, rejected the arguments of the military force and accepted the grounds presented by the NGO. The Comptroller's Office highlighted that the Access to Information Law does not allow restrictions in cases involving human rights violations, such as torture, murder, and concealment of corpses.
According to the decision, "the facts are public and notorious, having been officially recognized by the Brazilian State in the final report of the National Truth Commission," and there is no "institutional security to be protected," since the crimes cited were illegal even under the regime in force at the time.
Among the accused, two are still alive — Jacy Ochsendorf and José Antonio Nogueira Belham — and six have already died: Jurandyr Ochsendorf, Raymundo Ronaldo Campos, Rubens Paim Sampaio, Freddie Perdigão Pereira, Antônio Fernando Hughes de Carvalho, and Amílcar Lobo.
