Brazil Marks 50 Years Since Herzog’s Killing With Sé Ceremony, New Files and Military Justice Apology

Overview

• An ecumenical gathering organized by Comissão Arns and the Vladimir Herzog Institute filled São Paulo’s Catedral da Sé, where acting president Geraldo Alckmin denounced the dictatorship but declined to endorse revising the amnesty.
• Superior Military Court president Maria Elizabeth Rocha publicly asked forgiveness for judicial errors under the regime and said crimes against humanity are not subject to amnesty.
• Estadão revealed previously unseen DOPS and Military Police plans—Operations Gutenberg and Terço—from 1975 outlining surveillance, infiltration and possible detentions around the original Sé act.
• The federal government this year agreed to pay about R$3 million in moral damages to the Herzog family, following earlier international and domestic acknowledgments of state responsibility.
• New cultural works renewed attention to the case, including a TV Cultura documentary, a podcast examining the fabricated ‘suicide’ photo, and an AI tool that simulates Herzog’s voice from his archive.