Brasil e Pacto de São José da Costa Rica: formação de agenda e processo decisório de uma política externa em direitos humanos

Abstract

This master’s thesis presents the formulation of the agenda and decision-making process around the American Convention on Human Rights, also known as the Pact of San Jose of Costa Rica, in Brazil. Given the difficulty in discussing the issue of human rights in the country, we investigated from the moment the issue entered the public agenda until the incorporation by Brazil, through Decree No. 678, of 1992, of human rights legislation. The work, presented in a descriptive and analytical way, shows that this policy illustrates an example of path dependence. We argue that the events of its formation impacted the course of its development, which is why a historical survey is carried out around the existing dispute regarding the concept of human rights. Furthermore, the decision-making process for its incorporation was a consequence of the actions of actors who took advantage of windows of opportunity for the entry of this international legislation into the Brazilian legal system. The documentary analysis, from 1969 to 1992, led us to conclude: a) that the incorporation of the American Convention on Human Rights suffered, directly, internal influences both to advance and to hinder the taking of this decision and b) that the difficulties for its implementation have already been presented since the formation of this agenda and even in the decision-making process that led to its incorporation, an emblematic case of the dispute surrounding the concept of human rights, whether during the Brazilian military dictatorship or during the period of redemocratization, difficulties that continue to exist when the topic is mentioned by institutions and the population.