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The Ato Institucional Número Cinco – AI-5 ( en, Institutional Act Number Five) was the fifth of seventeen major
decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...
s issued by the
military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...
in the years following the 1964 coup d'état in
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. ''Institutional Acts'' were the highest form of legislation during the military regime, given that they overruled even the highly authoritarian
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
, and were enforced without the possibility of judicial review. They were issued on behalf of the "Supreme Command of the Revolution" (the regime's leadership). AI-5, the most infamous of all Institutional Acts, was issued by dictator
Artur da Costa e Silva Artur da Costa e Silva (; 3 October 1899 – 17 December 1969) was a Brazilian Army Marshal and the second president of the Brazilian military government that came to power after the 1964 coup d'état. He reached the rank of Marshal of the Br ...
, president at the time on December 13, 1968. It resulted in the forfeiture of mandates, interventions ordered by the President in municipalities and states and also in the suspension of any constitutional guarantees which eventually resulted in the institutionalization of the torture commonly used as a tool by the State. Written by then Minister of Justice, Luís Antônio da Gama e Silva, it came as a response to earlier events such as a march of over fifty thousand people in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
to protest against the murder of student
Edson Luís de Lima Souto Edson Luís de Lima Souto (; February 24, 1950 – March 28, 1968) was a Brazilian teenage student killed by the military police of Rio de Janeiro after a confrontation in the restaurant Calabouço (), in downtown Rio de Janeiro. Edson was one o ...
by a member of the
Military Police of Rio de Janeiro The Military Police of Rio de Janeiro State ( pt, Polícia Militar do Estado do Rio de Janeiro) (PMERJ) like other Military Police (Brazil), military polices in Brazil is a Military reserve force, reserve and ancillary force of the Brazilian Army ...
, the
March of the One Hundred Thousand The March of the One Hundred Thousand ( pt, Passeata dos Cem Mil) was a manifestation of popular protest against the Military dictatorship in Brazil, which occurred on June 26, 1968 in Rio de Janeiro, organized by the student movement and with the p ...
, and the decision of the
Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
denying authorization to prosecute Congressman
Márcio Moreira Alves Márcio Emanuel Moreira Alves (July 14, 1936 – April 3, 2009) was a Brazilian journalist and politician. Early life Márcio Moreira Alves was born in 1936; his father was the former mayor of the city of Petrópolis Márcio Honorato Moreira ...
, which called Brazilians to boycott the celebrations of September 7 (
Independence of Brazil The Independence of Brazil comprised a series of political and military events that led to the independence of the Kingdom of Brazil from the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves as the Brazilian Empire. Most of the events occurre ...
). It also aimed to consolidate the ambitions of a group inside the military, known as "hardline", unwilling to give the power back to the civilians anytime soon.


Consequences

The immediate consequences of the AI-5 were: * The President of the Republic was given authority to order the National Congress and the State Legislative Assemblies into forced recess. This Unclassified document shows how AI-5 forced Municipal Councils to recess. This document, which was declassified, discusses how a powerful military General thought that the Congress being closed was a "blessing." Costa e Silva used this power almost as soon as AI-5 was signed, resulting in the closure of the National Congress and all state legislatures except that of
São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
for almost a year. The power to order the National Congress into recess would be used again in 1977. * The assumption by the President of the Republic and the Governors of the States, during the periods of forced recess of the federal and state Legislatures, respectively, of the fullness of the legislative power, enabling the President and the Governors to legislate by decrees with the same force and effect as statutes passed by the legislative Chambers. This power included the power to legislate constitutional amendments. A sweeping amendment of Brazil's 1967 Constitution (already adopted under the Military Regime) was promulgated in 1969 (Constitutional Amendment number 1, also known as the 1969 Constitution, because the entire altered and consolidated text of the Constitution was re-published as part of the Amendment), under the authority transferred to the Executive Branch by the AI-5. * the permission for the federal government, under the pretext of "national security", to intervene in states and municipalities, suspending the local authorities and appointing federal interventors to run the states and the municipalities; * the preliminary censorship of music, films, theater and television (a work could be censored if it was understood as subverting the political and moral values) and the censorship of the press and of other means of mass communication; * the illegality of political meetings not authorized by the police; * the suspension of
habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
for crimes of political motivation. * the assumption by the President of the Republic of the power of sacking summarily any public servant, including elected political officers and judges, if they were found to be subversive or un-cooperative with the regime. This power was widely used to vacate the seats of Opposition members in the Legislative branch, so that elections would be held as usual, but the composition of the Legislature resulting from the elections would be dramatically changed by the deprivation of office of Opposition legislators, effectively transforming the Federal, State and even municipal legislatures in
rubber-stamp A rubber stamp is an image or pattern that has been carved, molded, laser engraved or vulcanized onto a sheet of rubber. Rubber stamping, also called stamping, is a craft in which some type of ink made of dye or pigment is applied to rubber ...
bodies. The deprivation of office of Opposition legislators also affected the makeup of the Electoral College of the President of the Republic (under the 1967 and 1969 Constitutions, adopted under the military regime, the President was chosen by an Electoral College made up of the entire National Congress, and of delegates chosen by the State Assemblies). Thus, not only elections for the Executive Branch were indirect, but the vacancies created in the composition of the Legislative bodies affected the makeup of the Electoral College, so that it also became a rubber-stamp body of the military regime. * By passing AI-5 the dictatorship could take away anyone's political rights for up to ten years, and put the death penalty back into effect * the instant legitimacy of certain types of decrees issued by the President, that were made not liable to judicial review. Under those provisions, the Institutional Acts themselves, and any action based on an Institutional Act (such as a decree suspending political rights or removing someone from office), were not subject to judicial review.


Rebel ARENA

The AI-5 did not silence a group of Senators from
ARENA An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...
, the political party created to give support for the dictatorship. Under the leadership of Daniel Krieger, the following Senators signed a disagreement message addressed to the president: Gilberto Marinho, Miltom Campos, Carvalho Pinto, Eurico Resende, Manoel Villaça, Wilson Gonçalves, Aloisio de Carvalho Filho, Antonio Carlos Konder Reis, Ney Braga, Mem de Sá, Rui Palmeira, Teotônio Vilela, José Cândido Ferraz, Leandro Maciel, Vitorino Freire, Arnon de Melo, Clodomir Milet, José Guiomard, Valdemar Alcântara and Júlio Leite. And this unclassified document gives more background into how the ARENA political party was discriminated by the dictatorship and the AI-5 decree.


The end of AI-5

In October 13, 1978, President
Ernesto Geisel Ernesto Beckmann Geisel (, ; 3 August 1907 – 12 September 1996) was a Brazilian Army officer and politician, who was List of Presidents of Brazil, President of Brazil from 1974 to 1979, during the Brazilian military regime. Early life and fa ...
allowed Congress to pass a constitutional amendment putting an end to AI-5 and restoring habeas corpus, as part of his policy of ''distensão'' (
détente Détente (, French: "relaxation") is the relaxation of strained relations, especially political ones, through verbal communication. The term, in diplomacy, originates from around 1912, when France and Germany tried unsuccessfully to reduc ...
) and ''
abertura política The political opening of Brazil ( pt, abertura politica) was the 1974–1988 period of liberalization under the country's military regime, ending with the decline of the regime, the signing of the country's new constitution, and the transition ...
'' ( political opening). The constitutional amendment came into force on January 1, 1979. In 2004, the celebrated television documentary titled ''AI-5 – O Dia Que Não Existiu'' (''AI-5 – The Day That Never Existed''), was released. The documentary analyzes the events prior to the decree and its consequences.


Gallery

Pages of the Institutional Act Number Five.
National Archives of Brazil The National Archives of Brazil ( pt, Arquivo Nacional, AN) were created in 1838 as the Imperial Public Archives. The Archives were renamed in 1911, and are located in Rio de Janeiro. The National Archives of Brazil is the Brazilian institution r ...
AI-5 fl.01.jpg, Page 1 AI-5 fl.02.jpg, Page 2 AI-5 fl.03.jpg, Page 3 AI-5 fl.04.jpg, Page 4 AI-5 fl.05.jpg, Page 5 AI-5 fl.06.jpg, Page 6 AI-5 fl.07.jpg, Page 7 AI-5 fl.08.jpg, Page 8 AI-5 fl.09.jpg, Page 9


References


External links

* *
Text of Institutional Act #5
from Universidad Federal do Rio de Janeiro (in Portuguese). {{Military dictatorship in Brazil Modern history of Brazil Political history of Brazil 1968 in Brazil Constitution of Brazil Far-right politics in Brazil Political repression in Brazil Censorship in Brazil 1968 documents political and cultural purges Military law