{"id":44185,"date":"2014-07-07T12:00:11","date_gmt":"2014-07-07T11:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=44185"},"modified":"2015-05-05T21:33:43","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T20:33:43","slug":"unredacted-declassified-documents-given-by-biden-to-rousseff-detail-secret-dictatorship-era-executions-psychophysical-torture-in-brazil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2014\/07\/unredacted-declassified-documents-given-by-biden-to-rousseff-detail-secret-dictatorship-era-executions-psychophysical-torture-in-brazil\/","title":{"rendered":"UNREDACTED: Declassified Documents Given by Biden to Rousseff Detail Secret Dictatorship-Era Executions, \u201cPsychophysical\u201d Torture in Brazil"},"content":{"rendered":"

July 3, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Declassified<\/a>

Declassified Diplomacy<\/p><\/div>\n

The Brazilian military regime employed a \u201csophisticated and elaborate psychophysical duress system\u201d to \u201cintimidate and terrify\u201d suspected leftist militants in the early 1970s, according to a State Department report<\/a> dated in April 1973 and made public yesterday. Among the torture techniques used during the military era, the report detailed \u201cspecial effects\u201d rooms at Brazilian military detention centers in which suspects would be \u201cplaced nude\u201d on a metal floor \u201cthrough which electric current is pulsated.\u201d Some suspects were \u201celiminated\u201d but the press was told they died in \u201cshoot outs\u201d while trying to escape police custody. \u201cThe shoot-out technique is being used increasingly,\u201d the cable sent by the U.S. Consul General in Rio de Janeiro noted, \u201cin order to deal with the public relations aspect of eliminating subversives,\u201d and to \u201cobviate \u2018death-by-torture\u2019 charges in the international press.\u201d\"torture<\/a><\/p>\n

Because of the document\u2019s unredacted precision, it is one of the most detailed reports on torture techniques ever declassified by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n

Titled \u201cWidespread Arrests and Psychophysical Interrogation of Suspected Subversives,\u201d it\u00a0was among 43 State Department cables and reports that Vice President Joseph Biden turned over to President Dilma Rousseff during his trip to Brazil for the World Cup competition on June 17, for use by the Brazilian National Truth Commission (CNV). The Commission is in the final phase of a two-year investigation of human rights atrocities during the military dictatorship which lasted from 1964 to 1985.\u00a0\u00a0On July 2, 2014, the Commission posted all 43 documents on its website<\/a>. \u201cThe CNV greatly appreciates the initiative of the U.S. government to make these records available to Brazilian society and hopes that this collaboration will continue to progress,\u201d reads a statement on the Commission\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

The records range in date from 1967 to 1977. They report on a wide range of human rights-related issues, among them: secret torture detention centers in Sao Paulo, the military\u2019s counter-subversion operations, and Brazil\u2019s hostile reaction in 1977 to the first State Department human rights report on abuses. Some of the documents had been previously declassified; others, including the April 1973 report from Rio, were reviewed for declassification as recently as June 5, 2014, in preparation for Biden\u2019s trip.<\/p>\n

During his meeting with President Rousseff, Biden announced that the Obama administration would undertake a broader review of still highly classified U.S. records on Brazil, among them CIA and Defense Department documents, to assist the Commission in finalizing its report.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI hope that in taking steps to come to grips with our past we can find a way to focus on the immense promise of the future,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

Since the inception of the Truth Commission in May 2012, the National Security Archive has been assisting the Commissioners in obtaining U.S. records for their investigation, and pressing the Obama administration to fulfill its commitment to a new standard of global transparency and the right-to-know by conducting a special, Brazil declassification project on the military era.<\/p>\n

\"From<\/a>

From \u201cone of the most detailed reports of torture ever declassified by the US government.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n

Advancing truth, justice and openness is precisely the way classified U.S. historical records\u00a0should\u00a0be used. \u00a0Biden\u2019s declassified diplomacy will not only assist the Truth Commission in shedding light on the dark past of Brazil\u2019s military era, but also create a foundation for a better and more transparent future in\u00a0U.S.-Brazilian relations.<\/p>\n

To call attention to the records and the Truth Commission\u2019s work, the Archive is highlighting five key documents from Biden\u2019s timely donation:<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0\u00a0Widespread arrests and psychophysical interrogation of suspect subversives<\/a><\/p>\n

2)\u00a0Political arrests and torture in S\u00e3o Paulo<\/a><\/p>\n

3)\u00a0Allegation of torture in Brazil<\/a><\/p>\n

4)\u00a0Conditions in DEOPS Prison as told by Detained American Citizen<\/a><\/p>\n

5)\u00a0Esquadr\u00e3o da Morte<\/a><\/p>\n

___________________________<\/p>\n

For more information contact Peter Kornbluh (peter.kornbluh@gmail.com<\/a>,\u00a0202 374-7281<\/a>)\u00a0who directs the National Security Archive\u2019s Brazil Documentation Project.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 nsarchive.wordpress.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cOne of the most detailed reports of torture ever declassified by the US government,\u201d it was among 43 State Department documents that Vice President Joseph Biden turned over to President Dilma Rousseff during the World Cup competition on June 17 [2014], for use by the Brazilian National Truth Commission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latin-america-and-the-caribbean"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44185\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}