Two years have passed since the fatal shooting of the human rights defender and Rio de Janeiro city councilor Marielle Franco. She was killed with her driver on 14 March 2018 and the crime remains unsolved.
The chairs of four parliamentary delegations in the European Parliament for relations with Brazil and Latin America have strongly condemned the assassination.
Amnesty International said on Saturday that the murder has become an example of the impunity regarding violence against human rights defenders in Brazil.
“Two years is too long to wait. The lack of solid results in identifying those who ordered the assassination demonstrates that human rights defenders can be killed in Brazil and that these crimes go unpunished,” said Jurema Werneck, executive director of Amnesty International Brazil.
Marielle Franco was a rising star of Brazil’s politics with an unusual backstory: a black, gay, feminist activist from one of Rio’s poorest neighbourhoods who rose to be one of Brazil’s most famous politicians.
“Marielle is a symbol of the fight against corruption, oppression, and for empowerment, especially for minorities and black and LGBT women everywhere,” said her sister Anielle Franco. “We promise to keep fighting for justice, to find out who ordered her murder and keep her activism alive.”
A Marielle House in her memory was opened this March in Rio de Janeiro and will host conversations and training for everyone who wants to keep fighting for Marielle’s legacy. Another project is a Marielle’s School Project to support young black LGBT women from Brazil’s peripheries,
The Brussels Times
