Brazil court says amnesty law doesn't cover ex-soldier
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS RIO DE JANEIRO — Aug 14, 2019, 8:09 PM ET
For the first time in Brazil, a federal appeals court has ruled that torture committed during the country's military dictatorship does not fall under an amnesty law.
Lawyers said Wednesday's decision reverses a previous ruling based on Brazil's amnesty law, but could be overruled in the supreme court.
A court of appeals ruled that ex-army Sgt. Antônio Waneir Pinheiro de Lima can be prosecuted on charges of kidnapping and raping a woman during the dictatorship.
De Lima is accused of torturing Ines Etienne Romeu at the regime's "House of Death" in Rio de Janeiro state. The building was used clandestinely to hide, torture and usually kill opponents of the 1964-85 military regime.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/brazil-court-amnesty-law-cover-soldier-64982108
ex-army Sgt. Antônio Waneir Pinheiro de Lima, "man" of the hour
Google translated from an article in Portuguese:
Dictatorship victim recognizes torturer
Per Luiz Queiroz - 11/11/2014
GGN Newspaper - The secret identity of one of the most notorious torturers of the dictatorship was discovered. Identified by photos by the only survivor of the “House of Death”, Inês Etienne Romeu, the former military officer Shrimp is actually the paratrooper Antonio Waneir Pinheiro Lima. Wanted by the report of the newspaper O dia, and fearing being summoned to provide clarification to the National Truth Commission, Waneir left his home and took shelter with relatives in the northeast. It was located, however, by the Federal Prosecutor of Rio.
'House of Death' torturer's secret identity uncovered
Antonio Lima was Cameroon, Colonel Paulo Malhães's trusted man
By Juliana Dal Piva
Of the day
Rio - From the sad memories that Inês Etienne Romeu carries about the 96 days of torture to which she was subjected, one image is more present than the others. She could never forget the round face and reddened skin of the Cearense soldier codenamed Shrimp. Sentinel in a house at the top of Caxambu hill in Petrópolis, in the Highlands, the military man worked in 1971 - the height of the military dictatorship - in what became known as the "House of Death", one of the main structures of the Army Information Center. (CIE) to assassinate opponents of the regime.
Ines just could not accurately record the name of the military. “Wantuil or Wantuir,” she says, since being released from prison in 1979. And for more than four decades, behind “Shrimp” was paratrooper Antonio Waneir Pinheiro Lima, discovered by DIA three months ago. "I recognize," said Inês, when checking two images of the military.
A few hours before the day the story came home, Lima traveled and never returned. It was located last week by the Federal Prosecutor of Rio in Ceará. Close friends confessed that he feared being summoned by the National Truth Commission to provide clarification on his role in the crackdown. Therefore, she took shelter in the family home in the Northeast.
Ines was the only one who could survive the House of Death. In her statement to the Brazilian Bar Association, she reported that she was raped by Lima twice while she was at the house. Within a month of the release of the CNV's final report, the identification of the agent could help shed light on the fate of some 20 missing politicians who went through clandestine prison in Rio.
Among them, there is expectation of information about one of the leaders of VAR-Palmares: Carlos Alberto Soares de Freitas, friend of Inês and President Dilma Rousseff. According to the survivor, Lima confessed that Beto or Commander Breno, as he was called by his friends and fellow activists, respectively, was the first prisoner of the House of Death. “He told me that Breno was the first terrorist who was arrested in that house,” she described.
Shrimp was recruited to the House of Death by retired colonel Paulo Malhães, who died in April. The officer showed intimacy with the former subordinate and repeatedly refused to provide the soldier's identification. A trusted man from Malhães, Cameroon was with the colonel on several important army missions. Among them, the one that became known as the 'Operation Juriti or Medianeira' and aimed at the capture and death of Onofre Pinto, leader of VPR, and five other militants in Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná.
The retired Army soldier was part of the Parachute Brigade and worked as a caretaker of the Petrópolis Death House in 1971. Inês Etienne Romeu recognized him through these images above and accused him of rape during the time he was arrested.
Shrimp shot at Grupo Molejo pagoda in 2004
Soldier Antonio Wenair Pinheiro Lima's long police trajectory did not end when the military left power. Shrimp has always been known in the troops for their drinking, women, and party excesses - a custom that prevented the rise of his military career.
In 2004, Lima was in a room at Pousada Veleta Flat, on Praia Seca, in Araruama, Lagos Region when the 52-year-old Molejo Lúcio Francisco do Nascimento pagoda shot. The two friends, according to witnesses, eventually argued and Shrimp fired four shots at Nascimento: two in the chest, one in the fist and one in the thigh. The pagoda was operated and survived the injuries. He was charged with attempted murder and was jailed for 30 days but later acquitted.
Just before his death, Malhães spoke of Shrimp with disappointment as he cited the confusions involving drink. He said that after the first interviews in which he admitted his work at the Death House in 2012, the former subordinate was the only one who came to him, but he was on his way to the doctor. "Another day comes because today I'm going to the doctor and such," said Malhães. Shrimp never returned.
The identification of yet another unknown agent of the Petrópolis House of Death has rekindled the hopes of relatives of missing politicians. Sergio Ferreira, cousin of Carlos Alberto Soares de Freitas, considered the discovery “very important”.
“It is the obligation of the National Truth Commission to look for this person privately or publicly. This is an important news that we cannot miss. It is essential that the CNV summon him, ”said Ferreira.
Disappeared in Rio's South Zone in February 1971, Commander Breno had his career recounted in Cristina Chacel's book “Your Friend Was Here,” in 2012.
Agnes Etienne Romeu was the sole survivor of the torture center. She said that when arrested at the scene, she was informed by her torturers that Beto had been executed in that house. The VPR leader also saw and talked with Mariano Joaquim da Silva, heard the tortures to which Aluísio Palhano, Heleny Telles Guariba and Paulo de Tarso Celestino were subjected. In addition, according to military statements, at least 15 other missing may have died at the scene.
https://jornalggn.com.br/ditadura/vitima-da-ditadura-reconhece-torturador/
= new reply since forum marked as read
