Friday, March 29, 2013

Brazil: UN experts voice concern over deprivation of liberty for detainees

     A UN  human rights panel's visit to Brazil has raised some concerns as to what is called an "excessive use" of policies leading to the deprivation of liberty as well as a lack of effective legal assistance to people got caught or detained in Brazil. The deprivation of liberty was seen throughout the country including prisons, police stations, and detention centers for migrants. There were serious offenses done in these institutions, violating the international human rights standards. Furthermore, majority of these institutions are penury and generally cannot afford effective legal assistance. For instance, few states do not even have legal defenders placed. And also, even in states that have one, the detainees had to wait for more than a few months to be able to see a public defender. For some worst cases, people had waited more than a few years before they could get a trial and find out what charges were against them. I personally think this is seriously problematic. They should really provide a rigorous protection for the rights of the arrested and detainees to a fair trial. If you think about how hard it would be living under a lengthy pre-trial detention, there must be some measures to bring a facilitated and effective legal assistance to anyone in the country. I believe everyone should be equal before the law.   

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