Next Tuesday (16), the Legislative Assembly of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Alerj) should complete the voting of the crime cooking package (PEC-RJ), presented by the president of the house, state deputy Rodrigo Bacellar (União Brasil).
Among the measures, the proposition establishes the creation of the State Intelligent Electronic Siege System, which will use Artificial Intelligence, Facial Recognition, Geolocation and Data Analysis to Monitor Repeatant Egresses in Crimes committed with violence or serious threat.
For lawyer Raiza Palmeira, from NGO Criola, the initiative is “a true setback and attack on fundamental rights, as well as exacerbating their respective competences.”
According to her, facial recognition brings risks of error and reading data with racist bias, as has already occurred in investigations that resulted in persecution and arrest of black and brown people.
Daniele Moraes, coordination assistant and political incidence of NGO Criola, assesses that PEC-RJ has “electoral bias” and “continues to bet on crime fighting measures that only feed the war on drugs, but they burden the state, reap the state, destroy families, and do not actually combat the crime. They show other interests that are not promoting security for the population”.
Constitutionality
The NGO Criola Forma, with 22 other civil society organizations, the Popular Forum of Public Security of the State of Rio de Janeiro (FPOPSEG), which has already met with the Federal Public Prosecution Service (MPF) to discuss the constitutionality of PEC-RJ.
The author of the package, state deputy Rodrigo Bacellar, considers it normal for entities to question the legality of the proposal.
“It is part of the democratic environment to discuss the constitutionality of laws and normative acts,” he told the Brazil agency.
For the Forum, “In addition to injuring the Constitution [Federal] And to change the law of criminal executions, the project violates principles of protection of human rights – such as privacy, intimacy and freedom of circulation, and family life – and breaches international treaties from which Brazil is a signatory – as the convention on the rights of the UN child. ”
Measures
In addition to surveillance and investigations with facial recognition software, Bacellar’s project also establishes the end of the intimate visit in state prisons to convicted of heinous crimes and other intentional crimes with severe violence.
The package also authorizes the state to charge former prisoners the costs of the incarceration period, such as food, personal hygiene and clothing. The collection would be applied only to those considered fit after financial analysis, or to those with high standard of living and signs of ostentation, incompatible with the declared income.
The proposal also determines that minors who commit infringement acts with violence or serious threat, receive as a socio -educational measure a minimum period of 2 years of hospitalization. The measure cites topics as risk of minor, collective protection and recurrence prevention.
Next Steps
Presented to the Alerj Plenary at the beginning of the week, the PEC-RJ received 65 amendments, and returned to the constitutionality of these propositions in the Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ).
In a note to Brazil agencythe Popular Public Security Forum of Rio de Janeiro informs that it intends to charge a public hearing to discuss the 65 amendments proposed.
“The amendments have given us a breath, but there is a worrying parliamentary culture of accelerating voting, especially with topics as relevant as public safety,” warns Fernanda Vieira, adjunct professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and participant of the forum.
* Intern under supervision by Gilberto Costa
