The Legal Framework and Legal Functioning of the Program for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

Abstract

The chapter analyses the Brazilian Program for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (PPDDH)’s legal framework and shows how the PPDDH works according to its formal regulations (that is, its legal functioning). The second section describes the legal framework for the protection of human rights defenders at the federal level. It places the PPDDH-Federal in structures of government and explains the procedures regarding inclusion/exclusion of applicant(s) to that protection program. The third section examines the procedures and guidelines adopted by the PPDDH at the federal level. The fourth section presents examples of how the PPDDH-Federal handles cases. The fifth section explains the legal framework and procedures of the PPDDH at state level. The analysis is narrowed down to the Program for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders of the State of Espírito Santo (PPDDH-ES) and the Program for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders of the State of Pará (PPDDH-PA). The sixth section briefly assesses the models of functioning adopted by the PPDDH-Federal and PPDDH-ES (state–civil society) as well as the PPDDH-PA (state–state). The seventh section provides a summary of results from a brief statistical analysis of the PPDDH and makes observations in terms of its scale and functioning. It highlights empirical data on the number of PPDDH’s beneficiaries, their geographic locations, and areas of human rights struggles. The final section provides an overall summary of this chapter.