PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY - Inter-Parliamentary Union

78 I PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Brazil is a federal state, and the central government has limited competence
over the jurisdiction of individual states, the Human Rights Committee works
with the media and civil society to publicise violations in particular localities,
and bring pressure to bear on the relevant authorities. In some cases it does this
to create a more urgent demand for legislation from the Federal Parliament
itself, as one of its members explains:
We have also introduced the use of so-called ‘human rights caravans’.
Their aim is to prompt discussion in the federal states, the federation
and society as a whole about certain human rights questions. For example,
for ten years a bill about institutions for the insane was pending
before the National Congress, and it was impossible to have it voted
upon. Consequently, we organised human rights caravans in the whole
country to make people aware of the situation in these institutions, of the
real situation of those detained there, the human rights violations of
which they were victims and the fact that they did not enjoy minimum
standards of detention. The caravans were given large-scale media
coverage, and led to a popular outcry about the situation in these institutions.
We finally managed to have the law passed after ten years of
debate. The same occurred with the situation of homes for old people.
Here we see a committee acting with civil society as a stimulus to parliament
itself to take its broader human rights responsibilities seriously. As the
IPU has demonstrated in its recent survey of parliamentary human rights
bodies, the defence of the human rights of the population is now a central role
which permeates all of a parliament’s work; and it is a responsibility which
covers all residents, not only those who qualify as citizens:
First, parliaments legislate and determine the legal human rights
framework at the national level. They ratify international treaties and
must ensure that the norms set forth in those treaties are translated into
national law and implemented. Secondly, parliaments approve the
budget and thus set national policy priorities. They must ensure that
sufficient funds are provided for human rights implementation and that
these funds are used accordingly. Thirdly, parliaments oversee the
action of the executive branch and so keep the policies and actions of
the executive under constant scrutiny. They can therefore ensure that
the government, the administration and other State bodies comply with
human rights obligations. Last but not least, members of parliament
are opinion leaders and can do much to create a human rights culture
in their countries.