Whose exceptionalism? Debating the inter-American view on amnesty and the Brazilian case

Abstract

The authoritarian past of Brazil continues to be a conspicuous topic of discussion in the country. On March 31, 2014, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the military coup in Brazil, President Dilma Rousseff delivered a speech that gained a great deal of attention because of her statements on the 1979 Brazilian amnesty. That law is still in effect despite Gomes Lund et al. v. Brazil, a 2010 Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR or Court) decision ruling that its application violates the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR or Convention). President Roussef's statement makes clear that she sees the amnesty as part of a democratically negotiated agreement, “a process that wa..