Harassment cases skyrocket within Brazil’s highway police under Bolsonaro

Official data obtained through Brazil’s Access to Information Act show that complaints of moral and sexual harassment within Brazil’s Federal Highway Police more than doubled during the Jair Bolsonaro era — which is set to end at the turn of the year.

Between 2015 and 2018, the force recorded 53 such complaints. The number jumped to 121 over the past four years. The vast majority have been shelved since 2019. Alleged perpetrators were punished in only four cases; another 11 led to the signature of consent decrees.

According to officers who talked to The Brazilian Report, the numbers are low because there is hardly any autonomy for internal affairs departments to investigate complaints. Civil servants have already denounced that the work environment has deteriorated since directors aligned with President Jair Bolsonaro rose to command.

Earlier this month, the House Labor Committee held a hearing on work conditions within the force. Most complaints were directed at former director Silvinei Vasques — who retired last week. 

Marco Elias Nimer, who served in the Federal Highway Police for eight years, told lawmakers that he “frequently suffered from abusive behavior” from his superiors, which “gradually undermined his self-esteem and dignity.”

Mr. Nimer said he had his permit to be an instructor denied because he taught human rights and integrity in classes for interns. Mr. Vasques had scrapped both subjects from the curriculum. 

In recent years, the Federal Highway Police made the headlines on several occasions for the abusive use of force.

Mr. Nimer also claims that he was denied a training course in El Salvador for criticizing the Bolsonaro administration. While the law prevents law enforcement agents from making political statements, Mr. Vasques himself solicited votes for Mr. Bolsonaro on the eve of the election.

Another officer, who worked directly with Mr. Vasques, told The Brazilian Report, under the condition of anonymity, that marshals were monitored for “ideological alignment, something that has never been there before.”

During Mr. Bolsonaro’s four years in office, few institutions have aligned themselves with the outgoing president as much as the Federal Highway Police. 

That alignment reached a dangerous limit in the 2022 election, when the force enacted uncommon operations in Lula-leaning areas — which came under investigation for being allegedly akin to voter suppression as they blocked voters’ path to polling stations. Electoral officials say no one was kept from casting their ballots.

Then, in the following days, it outraged many by being lenient with anti-democratic protesters who blocked federal roads while urging the Armed Forces to stage a coup d’état.

That leniency led to an investigation against Mr. Vasques, the former highway police chief, for malfeasance. 

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