The Minister of Human Rights of the BrazilSílvio Luiz de Almeida, announced this Thursday that the Government of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva sent the Escazu Agreement to the Brazilian Congress for its ratification, after his participation in a Mercosur meeting held in Buenos Aires.
“The fact that the president (Lula) sent the message for Congress to analyze the text of the treaty was a great victory. First for all the human rights movements that have established themselves in the country in recent years”, Almeida explained in statements to the press, who participated in the 41st Meeting of High Authorities on Human Rights of Mercosur.
The Escazú Agreement, which entered into force 2 years ago, but was not submitted to Parliament by former President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2023), aims to guarantee access to information, public participation in decision-making and the access to justice in environmental matters.
The Brazilian minister also posted on his Twitter account that the treaty “strengthens the links” between human rights policies and environmental protection, since protection instruments for environmental defenders and indigenous communities should be created, something ratified by 15 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Argentina.
“It is now up to the National Congress to deliberate on this treaty, which generates an important legal-institutional platform for the protection of the environment and human rights defenders.”, the Brazilian official closed on social networks.
The meeting, which will end this Friday, is a space for intergovernmental coordination on public human rights policies and brings together the main authorities of the competent institutions in the matter.
The agreement is especially relevant for Brazil, since together with Colombia and Peru, it belongs to the nations in which large Amazonian indigenous communities reside. and they face difficulties when it comes to defending their territories due to the advancement of extractivist projects.
On the other hand, Almeida indicated that it will be in the hands of the Brazilian Parliament to analyze and approve the agreement and that “in Brazil they have quite special treatment by the federal Constitution”.
“If they are approved by a simple majority quorum, they are incorporated, by a decision of the Federal Supreme Court, as a ‘supralegal’ norm, that is, they are incorporated norms and have the force of federal law.”, he remarked.
“And if approved by a qualified majority, it is incorporated into the Brazilian legal system with the force of a constitutional measure.Almeida concluded.
Source: EFE
Source: Gestion
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