Government tries to overturn the obligation to offer human rights courses at the Federal Highway Police

The Lula (PT) government appealed a court decision that determined that the PRF (Federal Highway Police) reestablish the functioning of regional human rights commissions and include the topic among the subjects of the police training course.

The sentence issued at the beginning of October by judge Paulo Ernane Moreira Barros, of the 6th Civil Court of Goiás, maintained an injunction granted in 2022, still under Jair Bolsonaro's government. It was given in the context of the death of Genivaldo de Jesus Santos, during a police raid.

The judge orders the revocation of a 2022 ordinance to reestablish the powers of human rights commissions within the scope of the PRF, in addition to the inclusion of the subject "Human Rights and Citizenship" in the category's training course.

The Court obliges the corporation to deal with issues involving police approach protocols for vulnerable groups, with a workload of 30 class hours.

The AGU (Advocacy General of the Union) appealed, claiming that the action is administrative and the exclusive competence of the Union. Furthermore, it questioned the "judicial intervention" in public policies.

"The relevance of each of these contents is not under discussion. What is under discussion is whether it is up to the Judiciary, without a specific legal basis and without technical proof, to define the pedagogical structure of a police training course", stated the AGU.

The body also states that the previous model is not compatible with the current structure of the PRF and that there is no "absence or serious deficiency in the service" that justifies the court decision.

"Without a current omission, a definitive judicial command over the means does not add protection to the law, it only removes from the administration the possibility of improving them", he stated.

Human rights organizations that had celebrated the sentence repudiated the government's appeal and stated that action must be taken to prevent deaths committed by police officers.

"The AGU's appeal is a technical and political mistake. There is no logic in this type of appeal, which lowers the importance of the merits of the process by treating it as another dispute to be won", said Carlos Nicodemos, lawyer for the National Human Rights Movement.