A court has ordered the suppression of content and the alteration of a report by the Paraná Truth Commission held by the National Archives.
The final report of the National Commission was altered with the intention of "safeguarding" the reputation of the former governor of Paraná, Ney Braga.
By Denise Assis, 247 - Every day Jair Bolsonaro spends in the presidency is a threat to the memory and history of this country. The final report of the National Truth Commission has suffered a new attack, this time with the intention of "safeguarding" the reputation of the former governor of Paraná, Ney Braga.
Before being appointed to the position, Braga, a military man, was a federal deputy from 1958 to 1965. He governed his state from 1961 to 1965. Upon leaving the government, he served the dictatorship as Minister of Agriculture, a position he held for one year. He was then elected senator (1966/1974), returning to serve the dictatorship (which, incidentally, he always supported) as Minister of Education (1974/1978). Finally, he returned to the government of his state, a position he held from 1979-1982.
The damage done by this government, with its clear intention of "erasure," is ongoing. Those who visit the presidential archives to find out which prominent figures have been honored with official mourning in recent times will find a void. In a petty and futile attempt to diminish the importance of personalities like Darcy Ribeiro, Celso Furtado, and others of equal stature, Jair removed the record of "official mourning" from the collection, as if this could make their legacy disappear.
Last week, as reported by 247The court decision regarding the "anonymization" of mentions of former Pernambuco Military Police colonel Olinto de Sousa Ferraz in the National Truth Commission (CNV) report, as reported by Giro da Arquivo, has generated repercussions and outrage. In addition to media reports, the National Forum for Teaching and Research in Archival Science (FEPARQUE) issued a statement expressing "extreme concern" about the matter.
Based on a court decision that disregards legislation concerning archives, access to information, and the work of the National Truth Commission itself, the removal of Olinto de Sousa Ferraz's name is causing concern because of the precedent it sets, but perhaps it is just another case of its kind. After last week's publication, the Archive Spin It was found that another court decision — this time from 2017 — ordered the falsification of documents permanently held by the National Archives. Even more serious: the court not only ruled that the institution should remove sections of documents, but also mandated the inclusion of new pages in a report collected months earlier.
The case involves documents mentioning Ney Braga (1917–2000), a military officer and politician from Paraná who held various positions during the dictatorship. In 2015, Braga's family filed a lawsuit against the Federal Government and the National Archives. In the lawsuit, the politician's relatives requested the inclusion and indexing of documents in the final report of the Paraná State Truth Commission Teresa Urban, held at the National Archives.
Between November 2016 and June 2019, the National Archives was repeatedly called upon to comply with the decision to remove sections and insert documents into the Commission's report, which is a final and complete document.
According to the report shown on Giro da Arquivos (edition 165), as shown in the court documents made available by the National Archives itself, the institution attempted to comply with the decision without altering the report, in order to "guarantee the integrity and reliability of the documents in its custody." However, in 2018, after a new summons and threat of a R$ 100 fine, the Archives complied with the sentence.
In addition to suppressing an entire paragraph from the report of the Paraná State Truth Commission, the Judiciary determined that at least 15 documents be inserted in a pre-established order in the final report made available by the National Archives Information System (SIAN). The judicial decision — taken based on a free interpretation of the law of habeas data — demanded the inclusion of documents that include copies of newspaper articles and even a book that refutes one of the testimonies given to the Commission.
One of the most curious points of the decision - cited by Giro da Arquiva - is the concern of Judge Friedmann Anderson Wendpap, responsible for the last ruling in the case, to ensure compliance with the determination regarding the insertion of documents "in the strict order as determined by the sentence" (p. 54).
As the ruling points out, the Union managed to reverse, at least, the decision to suppress parts of the report. The appeal, however, was unable to stop the decision to include documents in the dossier made available online, a serious measure that not only violates the basic precepts of archival theory, but also goes against current legislation.
The falsification of permanently preserved documents—done with the consent of the Judiciary—represents one of the most serious actions in the history of Brazilian archival science. Products of already concluded processes, documents such as those gathered by the final report of the Paraná State Truth Commission constitute Brazilian archival cultural heritage and, according to the archives law, must be preserved in their integrity due to their historical, evidentiary, and informational value. The insertion of new documents into the report—after the Commission's own term had expired—represents a clear attempt to change the content and context of the results obtained by the investigations.
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