ABSTRACT
Brazil is perceived as an outlier in Latin America with regard to transitional justice. Many believed that the creation of the Brazilian National Truth Commission (NTC) would be an attempt to perpetuate impunity, bringing truth without justice. This chapter examines the role of the NTC and how it considered impunity to not only be pervasive but also serve as a trigger for ongoing human rights violations. It argues that International Human Rights Law was the lens through which the NTC revisited past abuses and recommended measures that could be implemented to further consolidate Brazilian democracy. The NTC revealed the widespread, systematic occurrence of serious human rights violations by the military dictatorship and denounced those actions as crimes against humanity. The NTC is examined as a national institution that has promoted and implemented a particular connection between human rights and conflict resolution that matches the era of state and criminal responsibility.
