Commission shows that Iara Iavelberg was murdered.
A public hearing held at the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo revealed evidence and testimonies proving that Iara, the former partner of Carlos Lamarca and friend of President Dilma Rousseff, did not commit suicide, as the official version stated. An icon of the left, Iara was honored by the São Paulo Truth Commission and will now have her story retold in a documentary.
Eduardo Maretti, from Rede Brasil Atual
The São Paulo State Truth Commission "Rubens Paiva", chaired by deputy Adriano Diogo (PT), held a public hearing this afternoon (4), at the Legislative Assembly, on the Iara Iavelberg case. A psychologist and teacher, she was murdered by the police on August 20, 1971, at the age of 27, in the Pituba neighborhood, in Salvador, after a police siege. Iara was the companion of the guerrilla fighter Carlos Lamarca, whom she met in the Revolutionary Popular Vanguard (VPR) before they moved to the Revolutionary Movement of October 8 (MR-8).
At the hearing, Dr. Daniel Romero Muñoz, responsible for performing the autopsy on Iara's remains in 2003 after judicial authorization, presented the results of the examinations proving that the suicide theory is unsustainable. The gunshot wound that killed her could not have been caused by a typical suicide shot, with the weapon pressed against the body.
Furthermore, there are eyewitness accounts from neighbors who claim to have heard Iara surrender shortly before gunshots were heard. However, the police officers involved in the operation likely did not know that she was Iara Iavelberg. As Lamarca's partner, she was more valuable alive. Carlos Lamarca had not yet been killed. He died almost a month after his partner, on September 17, 1971.
The major difficulty the family encountered in pursuing the truth stemmed from seemingly religious issues. Iara, from a Jewish family, was buried in the suicide section of the Jewish Cemetery in São Paulo. The legal battle to obtain authorization to exhume the body and conduct the examinations lasted for years.
Lawyer Luiz Eduardo Greenhalgh, a former federal deputy for the PT (Workers' Party), worked for the Iavelberg family in the case. According to him, Jewish entities "laid a veritable siege on the Judiciary" in an attempt to prevent the exhumation. They argued that the Brazilian State, being secular, could not interfere in religious matters. "From a legal point of view, this case was extremely interesting," said Greenhalgh. The Jewish Cemetery clung to the official version. The Iavelberg family filed the lawsuit so that Iara's body would receive the same treatment as other deceased individuals. A Jewish suicide victim is buried with their back to the others and their face turned towards the cemetery wall. Finally, the Court of Justice granted authorization. The exhumation and forensic examination confirmed the homicide.
The lawyer explained that Iara Iavelberg's case is serving as an important precedent. "The decision has been used by lawyers in other similar cases, involving Jewish families, who have contacted us," said the former congressman.
Movie
The Iara Iavelberg case is the subject of the documentary "In Search of Iara," made by the couple Flávio Frederico and Mariana Pamplona, the niece of the former guerrilla fighter, who were present at the hearing in the Legislative Assembly when a segment of the film was shown.
The documentary will officially premiere at the É Tudo Verdade festival, which will be held in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro from April 4th to 14th, 2013.
In addition to Greenhalgh, forensic doctor Daniel Romero Muñoz, and the film's directors, friends and family of Iara Iavelberg participated in Monday's public hearing, including her brother Samuel, her niece Mariana Pamplona, and her college friend from the USP Psychology Faculty, Tutinha (Maria Magaldi), among others.