Estado contra familiares de vítimas? O Massacre do Carandiru e os limites das ações judiciais de indenização em casos de graves violações de direitos humanos

This paper aims to present a general picture of the judicial decisions regarding the compensation of the families of the inmates killed during the Carandiru Massacre (a police intervention in an overcrowded jail in the city of Sao Paulo in 1992). The data was gathered using three strategies: ( i ) engine searches at the official websites of the State of Sao Paulo Justice Court (TJSP for its Portuguese initials) and Sao Paulo Lawyers Association (AASP); ( ii ) the execution of a technical cooperation term with the Public Defender Office of Sao Paulo, aiming the access of judicial procedures initiated by them; and ( iii ) verification of judicial payment orders made available by the TJSP. As a result, it is pointed out that out of the 73 actions identified in this research, 43 were deemed valid by the Judiciary and had the compensation available to family members. Furthermore, the framework obtained by the research is articulated with examples of other models of compensation for family members in cases of serious human rights violations – especially within the Inter-American Human Rights System – on the broader scope of the meaning of reparation to victims of violations. As a conclusion, the absence of a policy of reparation for victims of human rights violations by the Brazilian State is pointed out, which is contrary to the trend seen in the international normative framework, that points to an expansion of the rights of victims and the meanings of reparation.