Um passado insepulto nas disputas do presente: políticas de memória sobre a Ditadura Civil-militar brasileira (1995-2011)

Abstract

This thesis examines how successive Brazilian federal governments, between 1995 and 2011, engaged with the legacy of human rights violations committed during the Civil- Military Dictatorship (1964–1985). The analysis begins with the enactment of Law 9.140/95, which officially recognized those who were victims of political disappearance as deceased, and extends to the establishment of the National Truth Commission in 2012, which elevated the debate on the memory of the authoritarian regime to a new level. Situated within the field of Contemporary History, the research explores the specificities of Transitional Justice in Brazil, which primarily focused on financial reparations for victims' families while sidelining judicial accountability for repression agents.The study discusses how the Amnesty Law (1979) became an unavoidable framework for state initiatives by preventing criminal and punitive measures for crimes against humanity. The thesis also examines the tensions surrounding the formulation and implementation of these memory policies, including resistance from the Armed Forces, pressure from activists and families for crime investigations and access to secret archives, and demands from conservative sectors seeking equal treatment for deceased military personnel and executed dissidents. Additionally, the strategies of the Workers' Party governments (from 2003 onward) to deepen public debate are evaluated, with emphasis on the Caravanas da Anistia (Amnesty Caravans) and cultural projects promoted by the Amnesty Commission. The conclusion highlights that, despite undeniable progress—such as the state's acknowledgment of responsibility for grave violations and the expansion of the right to memory—the adopted justice model retained significant gaps. The absence of criminal punishment and persistent obstacles to investigations reinforced a form of negotiated forgetting, resulting in an "unfinished transition" that keeps the past alive in political disputes. Thus, the "unburied past" remains a decisive factor in understanding Brazil's democratic crises, demonstrating that conflicts over memory and reparations remain unresolved.