Between revolution and human rights: the testimonies of Brazilian exiles at the Russell Tribunal II

Abstract

Abstract: In this article, we study the testimonies given at the Russell Tribunal II, held in Rome in 1974 with the objective of denouncing Latin American dictatorships. The event was attended by exiles who had been arrested and tortured after joining clandestine organizations opposing Brazil’s military dictatorship. The article analyses their testimonies based on documents published by the Amnesty Commission’s Marks of Memory Project and others consulted at the Basso Foundation (Italy) and the National Archives (Brazil), as well as other dispersed records. The public expression of suffering is highlighted as a main vector of transformation in the repertoires of political action at the time, situated at the intersection between the ideals of the revolutionary left and those of human rights. This process exposed the limits to the idea of a purely individual aspect of suffering and the presumption of its incommunicable or unspeakable nature - both shown to be ways of silencing its political dimension.

Keywords

• testimony
• exile
• Russell Tribunal
• Brazilian military dictatorship
• torture