The Pact for Democracy, a coalition that brings together more than 200 civil society organizations committed to defending the Democratic Rule of Law, sent this Thursday (11) a letter to the Federal Senate criticizing the processing of the so-called Dosimetry Project (PL 2.162/2023). The document warns of the political and institutional risks that the proposal represents for Brazilian democracy and requests that the Senate exercise its function of protecting the Constitution. 
In the text addressed to the president of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre, and to the senators, the Pact for Democracy states that the approval of the project in the Chamber of Deputies occurred in a scenario of “serious restrictions on public debate”, with accelerated processing and a lack of transparency in the legislative process. According to the group, the vote held in the early hours of December 10th made democratic control and monitoring by institutions and society difficult.
“Parliamentarians and civil society were subjected to a blind vote, without adequate access to the technical and legal details of significant changes to structural legislation, such as the Brazilian Penal Code and the Penal Execution Law”, states the coalition.
The letter highlights that, contrary to what the proponents of the proposal argue, the PL does not promote national pacification, but represents a “capitulation of Parliament” in the face of individuals involved in attacks against the constitutional order, such as those registered on January 8, 2023. The Pact argues that true pacification must be built through accountability, and not through the granting of “improvised amnesty”
“Brazil is experiencing today, for the first time, a robust process of accountability for attempts at democratic destabilization, including its intellectual mentors. This effort has been recognized internationally as a reference for resistance to autocratic advance”, the organizations state in the letter.
“Stopping this path means giving up on breaking decades of impunity, weakening policies of memory and truth and compromising the construction of a stronger democracy. We will all lose”, they add.
The document also highlights that the Senate has the opportunity to reestablish transparency standards, allow qualified debate, listen to experts and social movements and protect the Democratic Rule of Law by rigorously analyzing the proposal. For the signatories, the amnesty could compromise the historical construction of accountability for authoritarian attacks and weaken Brazilian democratic institutions.
“In view of the project’s arrival at the Federal Senate, we trust in the historical responsibility of this House. It is in the Senate that Parliament can reject capitulation, protect the Constitution and reaffirm that the Democratic Rule of Law does not bow to convenience”, says the letter.
Among the organizations that sign the letter are human rights entities, advocacy groups, civil collectives and social justice networks.
Yesterday (10), the president of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP), sent the Dosimetry PL to the Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) of the House for consideration next week. The rapporteur will be Senator Esperidião Amim (PP-SC), supporter of former president Jair Bolsonaro.
