ABSTRACT
In 1971, a 29-year old bank employee, student union leader, and coordinator of a resistance group against the Brazilian dictatorship was arrested without a warrant. Inês Etienne Romeu was placed in the Brazilian torture camp known as the “House of Death,” where she was subject to torture and rape. Several decades later, in December 2016, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office filed a criminal complaint against her rapist. However, on 8 March 2017, the judge rejected the complaint on the basis that the crimes would not be punishable due to the application of the Amnesty Law and the statute of limitations. This chapter examines the Inês Romeu case, critically analyzes the federal judge’s decision, and confronts the national jurisprudence vis-à-vis International Human Rights Law while exploring the process of incorporating sexual and gender-based violence into the transitional justice agenda.
