Research and Extension Groups Affiliated with the Human Rights Center
The research carried out at NDH occurs through Research Groups, each with its own coordination and support.
Coordination: João Ricardo Wanderley Dornelles Support: CNPq – Research Productivity Grant
The Research Group "Social Control, Violence, and Human Rights" – within the scope of the Observatory on the Punitive System and Social Control – aims to study the various manifestations of violence in contemporary society, especially its criminal and urban aspects, as well as police arbitrariness, with a focus on the city of Rio de Janeiro. It starts with an analysis of selective social control strategies based on the expansion of punitive discourse and criminalizing practices that have become a reference in contemporary political relations. The goal is to critically analyze public security policies in the context of the Democratic Rule of Law. Although the central focus of the analysis is criminal violence, the research incorporates issues related to human rights, citizenship, and democracy.
Human Rights and Violence: Government and Governance Coordination: José Mária Gómez and Bethânia Assy Participating Professors: João Ricardo Dornelles; Gisele Citadino; Carolina Melo; Marcia Nina Bernardes
This research aims to evaluate the impacts of human rights violations and the institutional and social dynamics developed around human rights in Brazil. Its central axes are: a critical analysis of public policies (with an emphasis on the security, educational, and cultural policies of the State of Rio de Janeiro), the role of governmental Human Rights secretariats, national and state legislative processes, the growing role of the judiciary, social struggles and initiatives by civil society actors, and new theoretical, philosophical, and political frameworks and democratic theories of the general problem that underpins the project. The UNESCO chair project is based on the ongoing research projects at the NDH.
Coordination: Bethania Assy Support: FAPERJ – Young Scientist of the State
This research proposes to discuss certain essential theoretical assumptions regarding the grammar of what has been conventionally and broadly called the right to truth and memory. Inserted in the scope of critical legal theory, political theory, and history, it is essential to investigate the concepts of memory and truth, the notion of historical progress and anamnestic justice, and their implications concerning the epistemological status of the notion of testimonial narrative in the concept of truth. The central issue is to emphasize the potential of both the historiography of testimonial narrative and memory as an essentially chronological category of the present, and their profound implications in the field of anamnestic justice. It will be crucial to investigate how the narrative of the vanquished has the political role not only of making the memory of the vanquished possible, but also, and this is paramount, of enabling a democratic commitment to the future, i.e., the role of memory as a catalyst and stabilizer of political culture in Brazil. The political role of language depends on its anamnestic, commemorative capacity.
Coordination: Bethania Assy Support: CNPq – Research Productivity Grant
The project aims for an approach that prioritizes the uniqueness of each concrete experience of injustice as the foundation for a theory of justice—a phenomenal and applied focus on justice. It involves discussing a new phenomenology of justice capable of relocating the relationship between law and justice itself, by proposing an epistemological connection between law, politics, ethics, and subjectivity. Hence the importance, at a primary level, of rescuing the discussion about the temporality and modern historicity of law and its predominant narratives, particularly the type of rationality that underpins the much-cherished notion of the legitimacy of the Rule of Law. In the wake of the discussion on the narratives of modern law, it becomes crucial to re-introduce the question about the anthropos of law. It translates the need in law for a theory of the subject that is not limited to its abstract, representational, and normative description. This implies reintroducing the question of the subject of law capable of both historicizing and politicizing the notion of the subject; incorporating a sociological and political approach to the notions of community and identity in law; and enabling a theory of justice that narrows the gap between social solidarity and individualism.
Coordination: Gisele Cittadino Support: CNPq – Universal Call for Proposals; CNPq – Research Productivity Grant
The research plan presented here is part of the same thematic framework as our previous projects (1999-2010), namely, within the scope of constitutional philosophy. In this stage of the investigation, the approach is focused on a more specific segment, prioritizing the debate on the relationship between Constitution, Multiculturalism, and Autonomy. In detail, we can highlight: a) the need to observe, in contemporary societies, the link between the Constitution and policies of recognition; b) to verify how the right to "opt out," as an ideal of autonomy, does not represent a violation of the ideal of authenticity, even when dealing with marginalized groups; c) to analyze how in contemporary multicultural societies, the emergence of cultural rights represents the eruption of new models of legal conflicts, which are no longer linked to the traditional clashes between individual subjects or between the citizen and the public power; and d) to verify how collective rights derive from individual rights because multiculturalism only exists in the presence of the principle of the inviolable equal protection of the person’s integrity.
Coordination: Márcia Nina Bernardes Support: CNPq (Call 32/2012) and FAPERJ – Young Scientist of the State
This research aims to examine topics related to the issue of gender in Brazil, in the context of the country's re-democratization process, as well as dynamics that have become possible thanks to the consolidation of the international human rights regime. On one hand, it addresses epistemological issues related to gender, sex, and identity; on the other, it tackles themes of a legal and political nature concerning the relevance that law, especially international law, can potentially assume in the fight against this type of discrimination in Brazil.
Coordination: Márcia Nina Bernardes Support: CNPq (Call 32/2012) and FAPERJ – Young Scientist of the State
Domestic violence is one type among others of violence against women. Similarly, women are not the exclusive victims of this type of abuse, and other social groups can also suffer from domestic violence, such as children and the elderly. However, domestic violence disproportionately affects women and prevents their social participation on equal terms with men. After all, what is so specific about domestic violence compared to other forms of violence? What defines it? Why is it so serious? The first objective of the research, therefore, is to discuss the nature of discrimination against women and also the relationship between gender issues and other forms of unequal treatment in democratic societies. In particular, we intend to investigate: (i) how to think about the relationship between public and private spheres in gender issues, (ii) how to think about women's individual autonomy within a patriarchal structure, (iii) how to define "woman" for the purpose of formulating legal norms and public policies, considering the critique of post-structuralist identity, and finally (iv) what is the role of law and politics in defining the boundaries between public and private and in protecting minorities. The second objective of this research lies in addressing these issues with regard to policies for combating violence against women, especially the application of the Maria da Penha Law vis-à-vis international norms on the topic.
Coordination: Carolina de Campos Melo; Leticia da Costa Paes; Márcia Nina Bernardes
The main objective of this Research Group is to promote studies in the area of International Human Rights Law for the practice of international advocacy, with an emphasis on the Inter-American System. PUC-Rio is represented by this group in simulated court competitions at national and international higher education institutions, having consistently won important positions in the simulated trial competition of the Academy on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law at American University’s Washington College of Law. In 2009, PUC-Rio signed an agreement with American University and, from that year on, hosted the oral round of the Inter-American Human Rights System Award in 2009, 2010, and 2012, an event promoted by the Secretariat of Human Rights of the Presidency of the Republic. In 2011, it took place at UERJ, with the collaboration of PUC-Rio in organizing the competition. In 2012, the team represented by students Bernardo Kaiser, Paulo Henrique Tavares, and Professor Leticia Paes won first place in the Simulated Trial Competition organized by American University in Washington.
Coordination: Leticia da Costa Paes
The Human Rights Center of the Department of Law at PUC-Rio, in partnership with the Human Rights and Citizenship Defense Commission of the Alerj, formed a study group with the objective of analyzing the conditions of the policy to combat crack announced by the Federal Government, taking the city of Rio de Janeiro as a reference. This is a critical study of the policies adopted to address the problem of crack with regard to homeless children and adolescents. The first focus of the work is theoretical and aims to gather bibliography and legislation on the subject. The second focus seeks to contribute to actions that have a practical result in social policies. In the first semester of 2012, a Public Hearing was organized at PUC-Rio on the topic, which was attended by members of civil society and public authorities.
Coordination: Carolina de Campos Melo Support: FAPERJ – PIBIC (Scientific Initiation Scholarship Program)
After 30 years, Law No. 6,683, the Amnesty Law, presents itself as an unresolved issue for the consolidation of the Brazilian constitutional regime. The research aims to study the right to truth and memory in the context of the post-military dictatorship in Brazil. Within the theoretical framework of transitional or post-conflict justice, we analyze the possibilities for review and the effects of the Amnesty Law by national judges and courts and by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The study also compares Brazil to neighboring countries such as Argentina and Chile, which also went through experiences of authoritarian governments, taking into account the standards established by International Human Rights Law.
Coordination: João Ricardo W. Dornelles
Research related to the work of the Rio de Janeiro State Truth Commission with graduate (Ph.D. and Master's) and undergraduate (Scientific Initiation Scholars) students.
Coordination: José Mária Gómez
The project proposes to analyze, in a comparative key, the dynamics of social struggles for the rights to justice, truth, memory, and reparation with regard to the systematic violations committed by the military regimes of the 60s, 70s, and early 80s, articulated with the responses and initiatives of governments, courts, and legislative powers in the four countries of the Southern Cone: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay. At the same time, it aims to establish the bridges and interconnections between these violations of the dictatorial past and the violations that occur in the present of the current democratic-liberal regimes, due to the deep and widespread dissemination of mechanisms and a culture of violence in the state and societal spheres.
Coordination: Telma Lage
There is a consensus – historically founded – that the degree of effectiveness of social rights in a given society is directly proportional to advances in the democratic field. Since the 1988 Constitution, Brazil has been advancing in the consolidation of democratic institutions; therefore, it is time to study the public policies in force to evaluate not only the legal effectiveness of social legislation but also its efficiency in ensuring the exercise of social rights for all Brazilians.
Coordination: Agnes Christian Chaves Faria
The research group aims to study and analyze religious freedom as a fundamental human right and the systems for guaranteeing freedom of belief, worship, and religious expression in contemporary legal systems, establishing an observatory of the relationship between Religion and Law. Topics such as the secular nature of the contemporary State; the practice of proselytism in public institutions; the legal system for protecting religious freedom; and the study of jurisprudence related to the topic at the national and international levels are examined.
Coordination: José María Goméz Support: FAPERJ
This research is part of the context of the institutionalization of truth commissions, especially the State Truth Commission of Rio de Janeiro (CEV-Rio), and aims to contribute to its mandate regarding non-repetition policies. A central premise of the project is that memorialization policies are part of the field of public measures and practices of transitional justice and, therefore, are part of the broader demands for truth, reparation, and justice. More specifically, memory policies bring with them the valorization of memory spaces/places, which are based on the premise of the centrality of victims' testimonies and a notion of memory as social memories/practices inscribed in the present and in the political-symbolic relevance of the city's public spaces. Thus, the project foresees the achievement of goals and their respective results in a joint and interdependent manner. They are: i) the preparation of a book of memory sites in the State of Rio de Janeiro with the purpose of consolidating information (cartography, images, and text) to publicize their existence and history; ii) the holding of a workshop with specialists, public policy formulators, and managers of memory spaces from other countries (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, South Africa, and Germany); iii) the survey and systematization of academic production, including publications in books and journals on the dictatorship over the last 50 years; iv) the preparation of a content report for pedagogical use, both for formal and informal education, with central themes on the dictatorship; v) the preparation of partial reports and a final research report that will include recommendations to subsidize the final report of the CEV-Rio regarding memory and non-repetition policies.
Coordination: Carolina Melo and Andrea Schettini
The main objective of the research group is to promote studies in the area of International Human Rights Law, with an emphasis on the Inter-American System for the Protection of Human Rights. It develops research on different topics in the field of human rights based on a critical analysis of international doctrine, norms, and jurisprudence. Its regular products include: (i) the systematization of the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights; (ii) the production of amicus curiae briefs for the Inter-American Court, especially on issues of national relevance, and (iii) participation in simulated trial competitions on International Human Rights Law, particularly the Inter-American Human Rights System Moot Court Competition, organized annually by the Human Rights Academy at American University in Washington, D.C.
Coordination: João Ricardo Dornelles, Andrea Schettini, and Natália Damazio Undergraduate student: Nina Barrouin Support: CNPq (PIBIC)
The project aims to study human rights violations committed within the prison system of the state of Rio de Janeiro, especially the practice of torture. Starting from the parameters of International Human Rights Law (IHRL), the research develops the central argument that the overcrowding of prisons constitutes, in itself, a practice of torture against people deprived of liberty, as well as their family members. There are two main axes to the project. The first consists of systematizing international doctrine, norms, and jurisprudence, especially from the Inter-American System, that address international parameters for combating torture in places of deprivation of liberty. The second axis consists of analyzing official data and information produced by the National Survey of Penitentiary Information (Infopen) and the State Mechanism for the Prevention and Combat of Torture (MEPCT/RJ) on the situation of prison overcrowding in Rio de Janeiro and its consequences regarding, among other issues, lack of food, access to healthcare, basic structure, access to water, medical assistance, access to justice, and minimum hygiene conditions.
Coordination: Antonio Pele Undergraduate student: Pedro Rogerio Borges de Carvalho Graduate student: Andreu Wilson Support: CNPq (PIBIC) Website: https://dignitygenealogy.wordpress.com
This project aims to create a critical genealogy of human dignity as a foundation for human rights. It interprets this notion in light of critical theory, particularly Michel Foucault. Publications: Antonio Pele: “Human Dignity in the Renaissance? Dignitas Hominis as Spiritual Counter-Subjectivity,” Philosophy and Social Criticism (Online first: Nov. 2018) https://doi.org/10.1177/0191453718814874
Coordination: Antonio Pele Undergraduate student: Pedro Rogerio Borges de Carvalho Graduate student: Andreu Wilson
Are human rights instruments for resistance or for the propagation of contemporary neoliberalism? How do they integrate into political and legal discourse? This project aims to understand the current challenges of human rights both in Brazil and abroad from a multidisciplinary perspective. Publications: Antonio Pele, Cittadino Gisele, et al., Direitos Humanos e Neoliberalismo: Ligações Perigosas (Rio de Janeiro: Lumen, 2018)
Coordination: Carolina Melo and Fernanda Pradal
The objective of this project line is to prepare a study aimed at contributing to the Public Defender's Office of the State of Rio de Janeiro to obtain reparations for human rights violations suffered by a mother whose son was killed by police action in the Baixada Fluminense, in a specific case of high complexity, using the standards of IHRL established by the Inter-American Human Rights System as a framework.
Coordination: Carolina Melo
The Final Report of the National Truth Commission (CNV) consists of 3 volumes (6 parts) and systematizes the activities developed during the two years and seven months of the institution's operation. The interdisciplinary group, composed of undergraduate and graduate researchers in Law and International Relations, analyzed and discussed the first two volumes of the report. During the research, the group had the participation of professors, advisors, and counselors from the CNV as guests. With the conclusion of the investigations, the group turned to the preparation of a summary of the report, with a view to making the reading accessible to the general public, as well as to national and international institutions.
PONTÍFICIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA
DO RIO DE JANEIRO
Rua Marquês de São Vicente, 225
- Prédio Kennedy - 6° andar Gávea
Rio de Janeiro, RJ - Brasil - 22451-900
Cx. Postal: 38097
tel. +55 (21) 3527-1102 e 3527-1652
