Overview
- Released on December 26, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights says authorities sometimes exceeded necessity in responses after January 8, 2023, amounting to potential censorship.
- The commission affirms there were deliberate attempts to delegitimize the 2022 election results and a planned and attempted coup d’état in Brazil.
- The report credits the Supreme Federal Court with initiating crucial investigations but cautions that extraordinary actions risk concentrating power and creating lasting precedents.
- Recommendations include avoiding secrecy in expression-related probes, reserving precautionary measures for exceptional cases, rejecting vague legal bases for restrictions, and not labeling critical speech as ‘antidemocratic acts.’
- The assessment notes Brazil’s strong democratic institutions and also highlights lingering authoritarian legacies, as political reactions surfaced with Senator Flávio Bolsonaro rejecting the findings.