The UIA notes with great concern the statement recently released by its collective member, the Institute of Brazilian Lawyers (IAB) (see here) and joined by several other well-known organizations, including our partner organization, the Interamerican Bar Association (FIA-IABA), which raises an alert “to the imminent dangers that threaten the democratic rule of law in Brazil.”
As an organization fully committed to the promotion and the defense of the Rule of Law everywhere around the world, the UIA is particularly concerned about the attacks and threats on judicial independence and the free exercise of civil and political rights and freedoms. These attacks have been repeatedly denounced by the national and international communities [1] but seem to be particularly escalating within Brazil, in the face of approaching October elections.
Any measure and/or comments that undermine, or foster infringements to, the Rule of Law, judicial independence, and/or the free and legitimate exercise of political and civil rights and liberties of Brazilian citizens should be deplored, especially as Brazil finds itself in at a pivotal moment in its institutional and democratic life.
The UIA urges the Brazilian government to take all necessary measures to ensure a safe, peaceful and enabling environment for the full enjoyment of human rights and freedoms, and to fully preserve, promote, and defend the Rule of Law.
The UIA extends its support to and solidarity with the Brazilian civil society and salutes in particular the mobilization of the Brazilian legal profession to uphold the Rule of law and safeguard the rights and freedoms guaranteed in the Brazilian Constitution and the international treaties and conventions to which Brazil is a party.
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