Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs
Brazil Initiative

Amnesty, Transitional Justice, and the Legacies of the Brazilian Dictatorship

Amnesty, Transitional Justice, and the Legacies of the Brazilian Dictatorship

Wednesday, October 9 –
Thursday, October 10, 2013

Joukowsky Forum

Reception to follow Opening Ceremony

October 9 Webcast
October 10 Webcast

This conference features a visit by the Brazilian Amnesty Commission (Comissão de Anistia ), which was formed in 2001 under the jurisdiction of the Brazilian Ministry of Justice. Its mission is to analyze the requests for indemnification of those persons who were unable to work or carry out other economic activities for political reasons during the period from 1946 until 1988. The conference will explore the Commission’s activities and provide a forum for discussion with researchers and students who are studying questions related to human rights, transitional justice, and efforts to document and preserve evidence of human rights abuses. The conference will also recognize the contribution of several people—both Americans and Brazilians—who, while living in the United States in the 1970s, were instrumental in denouncing torture and promoting human rights in Brazil.

Wednesday, October 9, 2013
 

6 - 7 p.m. Opening Ceremony
Chair: James N. Green, History and Portuguese and Brazilian Studies
• Richard Locke, Director, Watson Institute for International Studies
• Ambassador Cézar Amaral, Brazilian Consulate, Hartford, CT
• President Ricardo Lagos, Professor at Large, Brown University, and former president of Chile
• Nelson Vieira, Chair, Department of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies

7 - 8 p.m. Keynote Lecture: “The Human Rights Movement in Brazil”
• Paulo Abrão, President of the Amnesty Commission

8 - 9 p.m. Reception

 

Thursday, October 10, 2013
 

9:30 - 11:30 a.m. Amnesty, Memory, and Human Rights
Chair: Nelson Vieira
• Carla Simone Rodghero, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul
• Rebecca Atencio, Tulane University
• Marcelo Torrely, Brasília University (visiting researcher at Harvard Law School)
• James N. Green and Adam Waters, Brown University

12 - 2 p.m. Lunch

2 - 4 p.m. The Campaign against the Brazilian Dictatorship in the United States
Chair: Richard Snyder, Director, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies
• Anivaldo Padilha, former editor, Brazilian Information Bulletin, Berkeley, CA
• Marcos Arruda, founder, Committee against Repression in Brazil, Washington, DC
• William Wipfler, former director, Latin American Department, National Council of Churches
• Paul Silberstein, former collaborator, Brazilian Information Bulletin, Berkeley, CA
• Jovelino Ramos, retired Presbyterian minister, human rights activist

4 - 5 p.m. Honoring Human Rights Activists
Chair: Paulo Abrão
• Five-minute presentations about honorees by Brown students Megan Hauptman, Lanna Leite, Joaquim Moreira Salles, and Emma Wohl.
• Awarding of certificates from the Brazilian Amnesty Commission to recognize the participation in human rights campaigns in the United States during the dictatorship to Marcos Arruda, Anivaldo Padilha, Jovelino Ramos, Paul Silberstein, Harry Strharsky, Lorreta Sthrharsky, and William Wipfler.