Alessandra Bastos
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília – One of the roadblocks in the effort to combat torture in Brazil is the fact that experts and coroners who examine people who have supposedly been tortured belong to the very organizations that are most frequently accused of practicing torture: namely, the police forces. In order to deal with this problem, the government has sent a draft bill to congress that will make experts and coroners independent. The bill was authored by deputry Arlindo Chinaglia (PT-SP).

Pedro Montenegro, at the Special Secretariat for Human Rights, declares that it is essential to separate the experts and coroners from the police. "They are not doing police work. Their job is skilled labor in the service of justice," says Montenegro, adding that it is necessary to invest in the area so the experts and coroners can be efficient.

Montenegro made his remarks as he prepared to participate in public hearings on the government's Integrated Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Torture. The Chinaglia bill is to be part of the plan.

Translation: Allen Bennett