81
2. Public Civil Suit
214. Regarding the Public Civil Suit (supra para. 193), the Court notes the
similarity between the objectives among this Action and the Ordinary Action,
namely, the presentation of all information related to the military operations
against the Guerrilha do Araguaia (supra para. 188 and 193). Both actions were
decided in the first instance and confirmed by superior tribunals, and regarding
the Pubic Civil Suit, the State requested the Federal Supreme Court to dismiss its
own remedy, with the decision pending (supra para. 186).
215. While the objectives of said actions are similar, the judgment of first
instance issued in the Public Civil Suit, confirmed by the Regional Federal Court,
refers to the exhibition of documents “in a secret hearing” with the exclusive
presence of representatives of the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office and of the
Ministry of Defense, to which access to said documents by the victims is not
guaranteed. As such, even when the decision of the judge of first instance may
come to be implemented, its effect does not comply with the requirements of
Article 13 of the American Convention.
216. In addition, the Court noted that, regardless of the lack of a final decision
on the Public Civil Suit (supra para. 214), that ordered until this moment is,
materially, encompassed in the operative paragraphs of the judgment of the
Ordinary Action, in such a way that the purpose of the judgment of the Public Civl
Suit would be complied with in the orders of the Ordinary Action. Likewise, this
entails an action that could not be filed by the victims, to which the Court
considers that it is not an appropriate remedy to guarantee the right of the next
of kin to seek and receive information. As such, it will not make additional
considerations in this regard.
3. Legal Notification
217. The Legal Notification (supra para. 194) which was presented in order for
the authorities to proceed with the declassification of secret documents of interest
to the next of kin of the those politically deceased and disappeared persons to
know the truth and locate the whereabouts of the bodily remains of their loved
ones, as well as to allow the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office to have access to
the content of these documents to then carry out the necessary measures to
assign responsibility to those who violated human rights during the military
dictatorship.323
218. The Court notes that, regarding this action, it does not have any
information subsequent to its presentation within the body of evidence. Likewise,
according to civil procedure legislation of the State, these types of applications
are carried out before a judge so as “to establish responsibility, to promote the
conservation and the protection of one’s rights or to manifest any intention in a
formal manner […], and to request that the defendant is notified.”324 Beyond
representing the formal notification of a claim, the Court does not have sufficient
elements that allow it to corroborate the effects of said action or whether it
Bronca, Rosalvo Cipriano de Souza, Helena Pereira dos Santos, Eloá Cunha Brum and Consueto
Ferreira Callado (supra notes 255 and 256).
323
Judicial Notification, supra note 286, folio 351.
324
Article 867 of the Brazilian Code of Civil Procedure states that the purpose of said petition is
“to prevent responsibility, promote the conservation and safeguard of rights or to manifest whichever
intention in a formal manner.”
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