President Lula issues decree creating the Eunice Paiva Award for the Defense of Democracy

During the events celebrating democracy on Wednesday, January 8, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a decree at the Planalto Palace creating the Eunice Paiva Award for the Defense of Democracy. 

The distinction will be awarded annually by the Observatory of Democracy of the Federal Attorney General's Office [Advocacia-Geral da União/AGU]. It aims to give visibility to people who have collaborated significantly— whether through professional, intellectual, social or political action — to the preservation, restoration or consolidation of the democratic regime in Brazil. The president of AGU, Jorge Messias, accompanied the President at the signing of the document, as did the Minister of Justice and Public Security Ricardo Lewandowski.

In addition to highlighting and exalting the winners’ trajectories, the award aims to evoke the memory of Eunice Paiva's struggle in favor of democratic resistance and the defense of human rights. In the 1970s, Paiva’s husband, congressman Rubens Paiva, was removed from their home in Rio de Janeiro by members of the military dictatorship on the pretext of a police investigation. Only 25 years later did the Brazilian state recognize his death. Rubens Paiva's body was never found.

COMMITMENT — Eunice Paiva's story is seen as an example of courage in the fight against the oppression of the dictatorship and in favor of democratic freedoms and the rights of native peoples. Her path of political and professional activism, marked by commitment and dedication even in the face of personal sacrifices, serves as a paradigm for all those who seek to preserve and advance the democratic rule of law.

VOICE BEHIND THE EFFORT — Eunice Paiva is also one of the main voices behind the efforts that culminated in the enactment of Law No. 9.140, of December 4, 1995 — which, for legal purposes, recognizes as dead people who participated, or were accused of participating, in political activities between September 2, 1961 and October 5, 1988, and who, for this reason, were arrested by public agents and have since disappeared without trace.

SOCIAL STRUGGLES — After losing her husband, Eunice Paiva became a lawyer and a defender of human rights through significant social and political struggles, especially on the issue of indigenous peoples. The implementation of the award is in line with other initiatives to shine a light on personalities who, through their professional, intellectual or political activities, have made significant contributions to the preservation and strengthening of Brazilian democracy and the defense of fundamental rights and civil liberties.