90.
Bearing in mind the arguments of the parties and the Commission, and limiting itself to the
analysis of events that occurred after the date of recognition of the Court's contentious jurisdiction,
the Court will analyze below the alleged violations in the following order: (1) due diligence in the
criminal trial; (2) a reasonable timeframe; (3) the right to the truth; and (4) conclusion.
b.1 Due diligence in the criminal trial
91.
The Court recalls that in this case Brazil had an enhanced obligation to conduct the
investigation into the death of Mr. Sales Pimenta with due diligence due to his work as a human
rights defender.
92.
First, the Court considers it appropriate to stress that, even though the record shows a series
of state actions and omissions during the investigations prior to the date of recognition of the Court’s
jurisdiction on December 10, 1998, the consequences of those actions and omissions persisted
throughout the criminal trial.
93.
Specifically, the key events after December 10, 1998, that show Brazil's lack of due diligence
in prosecuting and punishing all those responsible for the murder of Gabriel Sales Pimenta are: (i)
the failure to identify and analyze the context in which he carried out his work in defense of rural
workers’ human rights; (ii) the failure to adopt protective measures for eyewitnesses, especially
given the context of violence and impunity in land struggles in Brazil; (iii) the failure to investigate
the death of the defendant J.P.N. during the stage of the “pronúncia” judgment and the death of the
eyewitness Luzia Batista da Silva during the analysis of the case by the Jury Court; (iv) the exclusion
of C.O.S. as a defendant in the “pronúncia” judgment due to a lack of evidence, given that the lack
of evidence was a direct result of the failure to carry out certain essential investigative tasks; (v) the
failure to take sufficient measures to ensure M.C.N.’s appearance at the procedural steps that
required his presence and to follow appropriate procedures to apprehend him when there were
detention orders against him; and (vi) sending the criminal case to the Agrarian Court when the Jury
Court clearly had jurisdiction. The Court will discuss each of these facts below.
94.
As the body of evidence in this case shows, and in light of statements by expert witness Kalil
in a hearing, 156 the Court confirms that at no point during the criminal trial for the murder of Gabriel
Sales Pimenta, even after December 10, 1998, did authorities take into consideration the context in
which the victim defended human rights. If they had, it would have been possible to identify the
economic and political interests that could have been affected by Mr. Sales Pimenta’s work,
particularly with respect to the judicial decision that reversed the expulsion of 150 individuals from
the lands claimed by the landowners, a decision that had been taken in response to a remedy
presented by the alleged victim shortly before his death (supra para. 53). There is no record that the
Public Prosecutor's Office or the judicial authorities ever requested measures to determine whether
the result of that action, which had significant public implications, could have been linked to the
motive for the death. Such a determination could have also allowed for the identification of other
156
The expert witness Kalil emphasized that
all allegations of violence against those who defend the rights and interests of workers should be
thoroughly investigated, and the possibility of a connection, whether direct or indirect, between the
violent act and the work of defending the rights of workers should be considered. [...] [T]he body
investigating a human rights violation must examine the complexity of the events, the context in which
they occurred, and the patterns that explain the reasons for the events [...,] to ensure that no evidence
has been omitted and all reasonable lines of inquiry have been pursued. It is thus critical to take the
steps necessary to assess systematic patterns that allowed the human rights violations to occur, as well
as the mechanisms and structures that enable impunity. Expert opinion of Renan Kalil during the public
hearing of this case.
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