20 A) The work of Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho as a human rights defender, his death, the 1996 commencement and 1997 discontinuance of the police investigation into his death, and the resumption of the police investigation in 1998 67.1 Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho was born on June 27, 1964 in the city of Macaíba in the State of Rio Grande do Norte. His parents are Jaurídice Nogueira de Carvalho and Geraldo Cruz de Carvalho. His daughter is Luana Gabriela Albuquerque Nogueira de Carvalho.16 67.2. Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho was an activist human rights lawyer who worked for the nongovernmental organization Centro de Derechos Humanos y Memoria Popular, an organization affiliated with the National Human Rights Movement. Part of his professional practice involved reporting on the actions of an alleged death squad active in the State Rio Grande do Norte, the “golden boys.”17 Following complaints aired by Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho and others, investigations were undertaken against several members of the civil police force in the State of Rio Grande do Norte for crimes including homicide, kidnapping and torture.18 As a consequence of his professional activities and the reports he filed, Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho received numerous death threats. In 1995 the Ministry of Justice of Brazil provided him with police protection, which was later suspended on June 4, 1996.19 16 Cf. autopsy report on Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho issued by the police lab, Instituto Técnico-Científico, on October 20, 1996 (case file of appendixes to the response to the application, Appendix 1, volume 1, folio 2925 to 2927); and birth certificate of Luana Gabriela Albuquerque Nogueira de Carvalho issued by the bureau of vital statistics, Registro Civil de las Personas Naturales, of the State of Rio Grande do Norte on December 21, 1992 (case file of evidence to facilitate resolution,submitted by the representatives, folio 7743). 17 In the State of Rio Grande do Norte, numerous complaints have been filed against police employees and officers working under Maurílio Pinto de Medeiros, Deputy Secretary of Public Security of the State of Rio Grande do Norte. These employees include Jorge Luiz Fernandes, known as “Jorge Abafador,” Ranulfo Alves de Melo Filho, Admílson Fernandes de Melo, Lumar Pinto, José Nunes da Silva, Luiz Pedro de Souza, Francisco Gomes de Souza, Gilvan and Maurílio Pinto de Medeiros Júnior. The complaints link some of these people to crimes of murder, torture and kidnapping, as well as criminal attempts against people who have reported their practices. The civil police and members of the Secretariat of Public Security working as direct subordinates of Maurílio Pinto de Medeiros allegedly belonged to a death squad known as the “golden boys.” Cf. Report of the Parliamentary Investigation Commission (CPI) on Extermination in the Nordeste, November 22, 2005 (file of evidence to facilitate resolution, folios 6832 through 6851 and 7267 through 7301); testimony given by Fernando Batista de Vasconcelos before the Court in a public hearing on February 8, 2006; report of the Special Commission of Prosecuting Attorneys created by the Office of the Public Prosecutor to investigate complaints against civil police and employees of the Secretariat of Public Security of the State of Rio Grande do Norte, October 26, 1995 (file of appendixes to the application, Appendix 7, folios 16 through 21); note from Alternate Member of the Council for the Rights of Persons, Percílio de Souza Lima Neto, October 21, 1996 (brief of preliminary objections and possible merits, reparations and legal costs, folios 780 and 781); report of the Regional Department of the Federal Police of the State of Pernambuco (file of appendixes to the response to the application, Appendix 1, volume 3, folios 3610 through 3612); and Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges, February 18, 1997, supra note 14, paras. 88 and 89. Cf. Report of the Special Commission of Prosecuting Attorneys, supra note 17; brief submitted by Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho to the Judge of the First Criminal Court of Natal in a criminal case against Jorge Luiz Fernandes, known as “Jorge Abafador,” March 20, 1996 (file of appendixes to the application, Appendix 8, folios 22 and 23); note No. 091 by a member of the Council for the Protection of the Rights of Persons, Álvaro Augusto Ribeiro Costa, addressed to the Secretary of Justice, Nelson Jobim, on August 16, 1995 (file of appendixes to the application, Appendix 11, folio 29); National Human Rights Movement, Nordeste Region, Coleção Oxente (file of appendixes to the application, Appendix 9, folio 24); and testimony by Fernando Batista de Vasconcelos, February 8, 2006, supra note 17. 18 19 Cf. note No. 091 from a member of the Council for the Protection of the Rights of Persons, August 16, 2005, supra note 18; and note No.811/96-CRP/SR/DPF/RN by Federal Police Chief Hider Antunes Silva, of June 3, 1996 (file of appendixes to the application, Appendix 10, folio 28).