A
space to remember those who resisted abuse and repression as well as being one to
inspire the new generation to value solidarity, democratic principles and the
respect for differences – This is the
Resistance Memorial in Sao Paulo. Walking through it you get the anger, sadness
and depression that people can be so tortured but then as you watch the
curators talk the students through the history of the place, you get hope that
these students will ensure there is no repetition of the old.
The Memorial, housed
at the former offices of the Department of Social and Political Order of São
Paulo State (DEOPS/SP), one of the most gruesome political police forces in the
country during the military regime, is dedicated to the memory of the resistance
and repression that took place in Brazil at the hands of the DEIPS/SP. Going
through the cells of the Memorial one goes through the incarceration room, through
one that has masks depicting the thousands of prisoners, the disappeared and
deceased from the operations of the DEOPS/SP. Another cell presents signatures
and reenactment of memories by former political prisoners while the last has a
stool and a bottle holding a flower, a sign of solidarity and hope to the
prisoners by the people outside.
 |
The
Building and the entrance to the cells
|
 |
Masks depicting the thousands
of prisoners, the disappeared and deceased from the operations of the DEOPS/SP
|
 |
| The
entrance with the pictures |
 |
| Signatures and reenactment of memories by former political prisoners |
 |
A sign of solidarity and
hope to the prisoners by
|
As part of the activities of the 15 Colloquium on Human Rights that took place in Sao Paulo from the 1st to the 6th October, 2017, visiting
the memorial and listening to the history of resistance and detentions makes
you recognize and appreciate the fact that abuses against human rights come in
many forms and at all social levels and that we of today are continuing a fight
started way back. While The Memorial reminds one of what happened, the 15
Colloquium was an opportunity to energize us to stand-up against any form of
oppression in our own social, political, and cultural spheres.
The 15th International Human
Rights Colloquium served as a space to rethink the strategies adopted by the
human rights movement and to increase the participation of activists from other
movements in an effort to diversify the alliances of the movement. The 15th
Colloquium was organized by Forum Asia (Thailand), the Centre for Human Rights,
University of Pretoria (South Africa), Dejusticia (Colombia), and Conectas
Human Rights (Brazil). The Colloquium is one of the most expected human rights
events of the world and its main objective is to promote the integration and
exchange among human rights activists from the Global South through the
socialization of knowledge and practices that are capable of advancing the
human rights agenda.
