By Lise Alves, Senior Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In the presence of several representatives of Afro-Brazilian religions, Brazil’s Supreme Court (STF) unanimously agreed on Thursday over the constitutionality of animal sacrifice during Afro-Brazilian religious ceremonies.
“It is constitutional the law of animal protection that, in order to safeguard religious freedom, allows the ritual sacrifice of animals in religions of African religions,” read the statement issued by the STF after the trial.
The ruling overturned a decision by courts in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, which created the State Code of Protection of Animals and prohibited various actions considered cruel to animals, including ritual sacrifices in African cults and liturgies.
“Religious freedom is a fundamental right of people; it is a right that is associated with the most essential and most intimate choices a person can make in life,” said Supreme Court Justice Luis Roberto Barroso during his sentence.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes stated that there was some misperception by part of the population that confused religious rituals of sacrifice with practices of black magic, in which the animals are said to be mistreated.
“The ritual does not practice cruelty. It does not practice mistreatment. Several photos, arguments quoted by some amici curie (friends of the court), with pictures of dead animals on roads and under bridges, have no relation with the Candomblé and other African religions,” said the Justice during the ruling
“There has been some confusion, comparing events that is popularly called black magic with traditional religions in Brazil of the African matrix,” said Moraes.
“The offering of food, including the sacrifice of animals, is an indispensable part of the rituals in some religions,” concluded Moraes.
Despite criticism from animal rights advocates, there were many who celebrated the decision.
“This is a victory for the Brazilian democracy, this is a victory for the Brazilian black people, and for every society. We could not have a jurisprudence that curtails the (religious) manifestation; the guarantee of the constitutional right of free religious manifestation,” said Fabya Reis, secretary for the Promotion of Racial Equality in the Bahia state government.