Capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
is a long unused form of punishment in
Brazil. Its last recorded use was in 1876. Although virtually abolished, it is still possible during wartime, according to the Article 5, XLVII, "a", of the Federal Constitution. Brazil is the most populous country in the world that does not retain the death penalty in practice (
Mexico is the most populous to have abolished it entirely). It is also one of seven countries to have abolished capital punishment
for ordinary crimes only.
History
The last execution carried out in Brazil was that of
Francisco, an
enslaved man, in
Pilar, Alagoas
Pilar is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Alagoas. Its population was 35,212 (2020) and its area is 249 km². On March 28, 1876, Pilar carried out the last official execution of Brazil when it hanged the slave Francisco
Franc ...
on April 28, 1876. The last execution of a free man was, according to official records, of José Pereira de Sousa, in
Santa Luzia,
Goiás
Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goiâ ...
. He was
hanged
Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The '' Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging ...
on October 30, 1861. The last execution of a woman, as far as can be established, was Peregrina, one of slaves of Rosa Cassange in
Sabará
Sabará is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Minas Gerais. The city belongs to the Belo Horizonte metropolitan region and to the associated microregion.
It is a well preserved historic city and retains the characteristics of a ...
,
MG, executed by hanging April 14, 1858 (some sources quote April 13, 1858), by the Province of Minas Gerais. The executioner was the slave Fortunato José. It was later discovered that Peregrina was innocent.
Until the final years of the
Brazilian Empire
The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and (until 1828) Uruguay. Its government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Dom ...
, defendants were still condemned to death despite the fact that Emperor
Pedro II of Brazil commuted all death sentences passed after 1876, for both free men and slaves. However, the death sentence was only fully abolished for common crimes after the proclamation of the Republic in 1889. It was not abolished for certain military offenses in wartime.
The 1937 Constitution, which ruled the country during
Getúlio Vargas'
Estado Novo dictatorship, made it possible for the Justice to sentence prisoners to death for crimes beyond military offenses in wartime. According to popular belief,
integralist
In politics, integralism, integrationism or integrism (french: intégrisme) is an interpretation of Catholic social teaching that argues for an authoritarian and anti- pluralist Catholic state, wherever the preponderance of Catholics within t ...
writer Gerardo Mello Mourão would have been sentenced to death in 1942 under the accusation of committing
espionage for the
Axis powers
The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were N ...
. As he later said in an interview, he was sentenced to
life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
during that time.
[RUY CÂMARA]
"Gerardo Mello Mourão, poeta absoluto"
''Confraria do Vento''. May–June 2007. He claims to have "never been sentenced to death as the pundits of history and bad faith insinuate".
As a matter of fact, there are no records of an execution taking place during the period of time in which this Constitution ruled, which lasted until 1946.
From 1969 to 1978, during the
military dictatorship, execution once again became available as a form of punishment for political crimes which resulted in death. As such, Teodomiro Romeiro dos Santos, a militant of the Brazilian Revolutionary Communist Party, was sentenced to death under the accusation of shooting an
Air Force
An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...
sergeant, who died, and a
Federal Police
A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.
Jurisdiction
LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction.
LEAs ...
officer, who was injured.
[Vasconcelos, Levi]
"25 anos de uma obra ainda incompleta"
. ''A Tarde''. August 28, 2004. Santos, now a
retired judge, is recognized as the only person sentenced to death during the Republican history of Brazil.
His sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 1971. There are no official records of executions taking place during the military rule. However, the regime was responsible for the
extrajudicial killing
An extrajudicial killing (also known as extrajudicial execution or extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, whethe ...
of at least 300 of its opponents.
Capital punishment for all non-military offences was abolished in Brazil by the 1988 Constitution. Currently, the death penalty may be applicable in Brazil only for military offenses such as
treason,
murder,
genocide,
crimes against humanity,
war crimes, and
terrorism during wartime. The sole method prescribed by law is death by firing squad. The Military Penal Code advises that this penalty should be sentenced only in extreme cases, and that the president may grant a
pardon for the convicted officer. However, Brazil has not engaged in any major armed conflict since the end of
World War II. Brazil is the only
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
-speaking country that still maintains the death penalty for some offenses.
Law
The
Brazilian Constitution
The Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil ( pt, Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil) is the supreme law of Brazil. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of Brazil and the feder ...
of 1988 expressly prohibits the usage of capital punishment by the penal justice system. However, death penalty may be applicable, according to international law, in case of a declared war, under the terms of Article 84, paragraph 19, of the Constitution. It also prohibits, in the same article that refers to the death penalty, the usage of
life sentences
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
, making Brazil one of the few countries which has abolished both life imprisonment and death penalty. According to the
Brazilian Penal Code
The current Penal Code of Brazil ( pt, Código Penal brasileiro) was promulgated in 1940, during the Estado Novo regime in the Vargas Era, and is in effect since January 1, 1942. It is the third codification of criminal law in the country's hist ...
, a citizen cannot spend more than 40 continuous years incarcerated.
Brazil is a State Party to the Protocol of the
American Convention on Human Rights
The American Convention on Human Rights, also known as the Pact of San José, is an international human rights instrument. It was adopted by many countries in the Western Hemisphere in San José, Costa Rica, on 22 November 1969. It came into forc ...
to Abolish the Death Penalty, which was ratified on August 13, 1996.
According to international law, the "application of the death penalty in time of war pursuant to a conviction for a serious crime of a military nature committed during wartime" is admissible. Article 2, paragraph 1 of the United Nations Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Aiming at the Abolition of the Death Penalty, allows members to make a reservation in these terms, at the time of ratification or accession to the Protocol.
Opinion polls
Datafolha, a polling institute linked to the ''
Folha de S.Paulo
''Folha de S.Paulo'' (sometimes spelled ''Folha de São Paulo''), also known as simply ''Folha'' (, ''Sheet''), is a Brazilian daily newspaper founded in 1921 under the name ''Folha da Noite'' and published in São Paulo by the Folha da Manhã c ...
'' newspaper, has conducted an annual survey since the early 1990s regarding the acceptance of the death penalty in Brazilian society. The majority of these surveys indicate that most Brazilians are in favor of this form of punishment.
[Carvalho, Mário Cesar. "Cai apoio à pena de morte e país fica dividido" ("Support of the death penalty falls and nation is divided"). '']Folha de S.Paulo
''Folha de S.Paulo'' (sometimes spelled ''Folha de São Paulo''), also known as simply ''Folha'' (, ''Sheet''), is a Brazilian daily newspaper founded in 1921 under the name ''Folha da Noite'' and published in São Paulo by the Folha da Manhã c ...
''. April 6, 2008. Cotidiano - page C1. The most recent poll (dated March 2008), however, indicates that there is no longer a clear majority on the issue. The difference between those who agree and oppose to the usage of the method is only 1%, and thus, within the
margin of error of the poll.
The results are similar to a 2000 poll conducted by the same institute, when approval of the death penalty had an abrupt drop, only to rise up again in subsequent years.
The newspaper indicates that murder cases widely explored by the
mass media during the time of the survey, such as the
death of boy João Hélio (which also opened a debate on the
criminal responsibility age), may influence the outcome of the polls.
A poll conducted by Sensus institute in January 2010 has indicated that most Brazilians are against the death penalty.
["Brazilians Remain Opposed to Death Penalty". Angus Reid Global Monitor. February 5, 2010.](_blank)
/ref> More than 55 per cent of the 2,000 respondents share this opinion, practically the same percentage from a poll conducted by the same institute in January 2001.
By 2018, support for the use of the death penalty had grown significantly. 57% of Brazilians support the death penalty. The age group that shows the greatest support for execution of those condemned is the 25 to 34-year-old category, in which 61% say they are in favour.
References
External links
on the Brazilian embassy website in London, United Kingdom.
* ''Capital punishment in Brazil'' on the Portuguese Wikipedia
The Portuguese Wikipedia ( pt, Wikipédia em português) is the Portuguese language edition of Wikipedia (written Wikipédia, in Portuguese), the free encyclopedia. It was started on 11 May 2001. In addition to being the sixth most accessed web ...
.
{{South America in topic, Capital punishment in
Brazil
Law enforcement in Brazil
Legal history of Brazil
Death in Brazil
Human rights abuses in Brazil