Fábio Medina Osório and Eugênio Ricas, to Correio Braziliense: “Cooperation reduces impunity”
Article co-authored with a federal police chief on how international cooperation reduces impunity, Correio Braziliense, 2019.
Translated from the original.
The Opinion pages of Correio Braziliense on Friday (15 March) carry an article co-signed by Fábio Medina Osório and federal police chief Eugênio Ricas, Brazil’s federal police attaché in the USA, entitled “Cooperation reduces impunity.” Read the full text:
COOPERATION REDUCES IMPUNITY
Eugênio Ricas is a federal police chief, police attaché in the US; Fábio Medina Osório, lawyer, is a former minister of the Office of the Attorney General of Brazil.
It is known that organized crime does not respect borders and has systematically taken advantage of the facilities that the globalized environment provides to expand its activities worldwide. Transnational drug trafficking, human trafficking for sexual exploitation, pedophilia, corruption and money laundering are only some examples of crimes committed by Brazilian criminal organizations and by international gangs operating in Brazil.
To investigate, obtain evidence, recover assets and combat actions extremely harmful to society, Brazil now makes use of international cooperation, among other tools. The body in charge of making and handling requests for international legal cooperation is the Department of Asset Recovery and International Legal Cooperation. In didactic terms, we may say that it is a sister body of the Federal Police, since both are linked to the structure of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security and, therefore, share the same orientation.
With Justice Minister Sérgio Moro taking office, the Ministry of Justice has undoubtedly come out highly strengthened, not only in its structure but also in international credibility. As a federal judge, the new Minister of Justice became nationally known for conducting, in the Judiciary, the phases of Operation Car Wash that were launched in Paraná and took on an international dimension.
Minister Sérgio Moro’s expertise in combating organized crime and transnational crimes, combined with the great credibility acquired in leading the largest anti-corruption operation of all time, has added a highly technical sheen to the federal government in that Ministry.
Still with regard to international cooperation, the Department of Asset Recovery and International Legal Cooperation has, in recent times, handled an enormous number of requests. In the context of Lava Jato alone, which turns 5 in April, nearly 900 international cooperation requests have already been processed, involving approximately 70 countries. And about R$ 5 billion has already been recovered through international cooperation.
These are significant numbers, if we think about the repercussions of such work. Besides the undeniable importance of asset recovery, international cooperation has been indispensable for uncovering the authorship and materiality of crimes that leave traces outside Brazil. This has been fundamental for obtaining convictions and, consequently, for locating assets that are criminally hidden in other countries.
This conduct has a very positive impact on Brazil’s image abroad. Intolerance of corruption and crime is indispensable for our country to enjoy credibility with the international community. In addition, we observe that the work carried out in Operation Lava Jato by the Federal Police, the Department of Asset Recovery and International Legal Cooperation, the Public Prosecution Service, the Federal Revenue Service, the Office of the Attorney General of Brazil, the Office of the Comptroller General of Brazil and the other bodies and institutions that work in or assist criminal prosecution, all this has contributed to changing the investigative culture, generating much faster and more effective procedures.
State bodies have obtained more and more convictions and recovery of assets that, at some point, were diverted from society. Thus, such resources return to the public treasury and can be reinvested in education, health and security, as well as constituting an important paradigm for breaking impunity.
All of this system relies on the support of federal police officers who carry out missions abroad. At present, the PF has representations in 20 countries. They are attachés, deputy attachés and liaison officers who maintain constant contact with the security agencies of other countries, carrying out a permanent exchange of information. All of this, besides contributing to investigations in Brazil, has been a differentiator in combating transnational crimes, locating and arresting Interpol fugitives and investigative measures in general.
The Public Prosecution Service has also been investing in acting at the international level. Worth citing is the structuring of the Secretariat for International Cooperation, responsible for processing requests received from other countries and operationalizing requests that directly concern Brazil. Moreover, there is a trend toward the unification and integration of procedures among Public Prosecution Services worldwide, going back to the late 1990s, it being worth recalling that the I World Congress of the Public Prosecution Service took place in São Paulo, in 2000.
A great effort is thus perceived to prevent the traces of crimes and the diverted assets that are in other countries from being lost with distance. Each day, thanks in large part to the change in investigative culture produced by Operation Lava Jato, investigations are more professional and results increasingly effective and fast.
Without a doubt, globalization has brought benefits to society. It is certain, however, that organized crime also takes advantage of the openings provided by the integrated world to carry out its illegal actions. Crime has become a globalized business. It is therefore up to Brazilian institutions to organize themselves to face this worldwide reality. In Brazil, the numbers show that we are on the right track. Strengthening the Executive Branch in the fight against organized crime, integrating it into the cycle of other oversight institutions that enjoy high levels of credibility with the Brazilian population, is without a doubt an excellent path to follow.