Brazil: Senators demand to know what Prosecutor General has done with Covid CPI report

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Twenty-six days after delivering the final report of the Covid Parliamentary Inquiry Committee (CPI) to Federal Prosecutor General Augusto Aras, senators now want to know what he has done in regard to the accusations contained in the document.

The Senate Committee on Human Rights (CDH) on Tuesday, November 23, approved a request to invite Aras to explain the steps taken so far. In a note, Aras reported that he will comment on the matter on November 27, one month after he received the report.

The request to invite Aras to the Senate was presented by Senator Randolfe Rodrigues. The senator expects the hearing to take place between December 13 and 14. The senator said he intends to ask the Prosecutor General to explain “what he is going to do with a CPI report of almost 1,200 pages, with strong evidence and based on the analysis of a tragedy with 600,000 deaths.”

On October 27, the Covid CPI senators symbolically handed Aras the final report of the investigation. It is up to the Prosecutor General to proceed and order new investigations, denounce President Jair Bolsonaro and other government officials, or to close the investigation within 30 days.

On October 28, Aras ordered the opening of a preliminary investigation, through a so-called notice of fact, to analyze the charges brought by the Covid CPI against the President and the 12 other politicians named in the final report authored by Senator Renan Calheiros.

On November 10, through a note, the Federal Prosecutor General’s Office (PGR) said it had received “secret documents collected or produced by the Parliamentary Inquiry Committee” only the day before.

According to the body, “the time lapse” between the delivery of the report and the reception of the records occurred due to “operational issues arising from the volume of the material (approximately 4 terabytes)” and the “need to comply with institutional protocols that aim to ensure chain of custody, crucial to the legal validation of information.”

Committee on Human Rights deputy chairman Fabiano Contarato said that “the Covid CPI pointed out serious facts and indicted public officials responsible for the worsening of the pandemic.” Contarato chaired the HRC in yesterday’s morning session.

“It is vital that the Prosecutor General should provide answers to the Senate about the final report delivered to him. We will not accept impunity,” he said.

The deputy, who was a Civil Police detective for 27 years, explained that “there is a difference between a preliminary investigation, the opening of an inquiry and the opening of a criminal case.” According to Contarato, the Covid CPI worked for 6 months “collecting objective evidence,” i.e., “contracts, data retention, messages exchanged through WhatsApp, Telegram, and other documents, in addition to testimonial evidence.”

“The Parliamentary Inquiry Committee virtually replaced the police inquiry, so what we will seek to understand is why a preliminary investigation and not the opening of an inquiry or even a criminal action? This is the issue being raised and, therefore, this request to invite the Prosecutor General was scheduled,” the senator said.

“This so-called preliminary investigation is when there are no real elements. But there is a whole report that was prepared with the involvement of senators from all political groups. Ultimately, this report was voted on with this evidence.”

According to Senator Randolfe Rodrigues, “there is no place for a preliminary investigation before an inquiry. “He (Aras) has to say: ‘I’m going to shelve it,’ if he doesn’t think there is any responsibility for the slaughter that took place in Brazil. Or he must say ‘I am going to open a criminal investigation. Or he can, alternatively, ask the Federal Supreme Court to open an inquiry,” he stated. “The term preliminary investigation seems more like a delaying tactic to me.”

As the approved request is only an invitation, Augusto Aras does not have to appear before the committee, if he so decides. However, Contarato believes that there is a “friendly relationship, of deference” and that the Prosecutor General will come to the Senate.

Randolfe Rodrigues followed the same line as his colleague. “I don’t want to believe that the Prosecutor General will be so discourteous to the Senate to the point of not accepting an invitation,” he said. “A potential failure to attend, which we don’t believe will happen, will inevitably result in a summons.”