In view of the approval in the Senate of the bill that equates crimes of racial injury and racism, the Doctor of Law from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) Irapuã Santana assesses that there is still a lack of effective application of laws that combat racism by the courts of justice in the country.
Recently, the Federal Supreme Court (STF), by 8 votes to 1, also equated the crimes of racial injury and racism. However, according to Santana, the challenge will be the application of punishment to offenders.
“We have many laws in relation to combating racism, but unfortunately the institutions do not apply (…) In addition to needing laws, we need institutions that apply these laws. So far that doesn’t happen. It was much worse, but I understand that we have not yet reached the ideal world”, he said.
This Thursday (18), the Senate plenary unanimously approved the bill that equates the crimes of racism and racial injury.
For this, article 140 of the Penal Code will be amended and the penalty previously provided for those who committed insults will be increased. The matter now goes to the analysis of the Chamber of Deputies.
For Santana, it is necessary to stop seeing the fight against racism as a problem. “But as a solution (…) we need to go through this because we cannot be a developed country leaving 56% of the population behind. If you want to have a better life, let’s end racism so we can all stay in the same boat,” he said.
Reference: CNN Brasil
