23 February 2026, GENEVA – UN experts* today called for justice and remedy for all victims of pervasive systemic racism, structural discrimination and violence in Brazil, as the trial of the alleged architects of the 2018 murders of Rio de Janeiro city councillor Marielle Franco and her driver, Anderson Gomes, is set to begin before the Supreme Court.
“As we reach this long awaited stage of the judicial process, it is vital that fairness and transparency are upheld and that full justice prevails,” the experts said. “The trial represents not only the final chapter in the fight for justice for Franco and Gomes, but also an important milestone in addressing structural impunity for racism, intersectional discrimination and violence against human rights defenders, women, people of African descent and LGBTIQ+ persons in Brazil.”
The brutal 2018 murders of Franco and Gomes shocked Brazil and the international community. Franco was a human rights defender who had spoken out against systemic racism, structural discrimination and police brutality in Brazil. She had been subject to intersectional discrimination, specifically the intersection between racism, classism, misogyny and prejudice based on sexual orientation.
Despite the shocking nature of the murders, the road to justice has been long and arduous for families of the victims. Leadership of the investigations into the murders changed several times and information was leaked to the press.
“The fact that it has taken eight years to reach this final stage of the judicial process is in itself shocking,” the experts said.
In 2024 the experts welcomed the convictions of some perpetrators of the murders, but they stressed at the time, that these convictions did not mark the end of the fight for justice for Franco and Gomes.
“To ensure full justice, accountability and non-repetition of violence, those involved in the planning and cover-up of the murders must be held accountable,” they said.
They experts have communicated their concerns to Brazil.
*The experts:
- Ashwini K.P., the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance
- Graeme Reid, the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity
- Gina Romero, the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association
- Mary Lawlor, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Isabelle Mamadou (Chair), Bina D’Costa, Barbara G. Reynolds, Catherine Namakula and Miriam Ekiudoko, the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent
- Claudia Flores(Chair), Ivana Krstić (Vice-Chair), Dorothy Estrada Tanck, Haina Lu, and Laura Nyirinkindi, the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls
- Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
- Tracie L. Keesee, and Víctor Manuel Rodríguez Rescia, International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement
- Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression
Special Rapporteurs/Independent Experts/Working Groups are independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Together, these experts are referred to as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. While the UN Human Rights office acts as the secretariat for Special Procedures, the experts serve in their individual capacity and are independent from any government or organization, including OHCHR and the UN. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the UN or OHCHR.
The International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement was established in July 2021 by the Human Rights Council to make recommendations, inter alia, on the concrete steps needed to ensure access to justice, accountability and redress for excessive use of force and other human rights violations by law enforcement officials against Africans and people of African descent
Country-specific observations and recommendations by the UN human rights mechanisms, including the special procedures, the treaty bodies and the Universal Periodic Review, can be found on the Universal Human Rights Index https://uhri.ohchr.org/en/
UN Human Rights, country page – Brazil
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Photo credit under fair use for commentary – Carl de Souza / AFP