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Brazil will investigate war-crimes committed during the military-dictatorship rule
The Brazilian Senate has given the green light to create a truth commission to investigate crimes committed in the country during the 1964-1985 military rule, which deposed then President Joao Goulart of his office. The commission will be given a two-year mandate to look into the cases presented, and defines its goal "to guarantee peoples' right to memory and truth and promote national reconciliation". However, an amnesty law of 1979 – confirmed by the Brazilian Supreme Court – prevents trials from being held. Last year, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights found Brazil guilty of human rights abuses committed after the 1964 military coup. The Brazilian government officially recognizes 400 "disappearances" and deaths during the dictatorship.