Former Brazilian Army Sergeant Antônio Pinheiro de Lima Sentenced for 1971 Dictatorship Rape

On 31 July, Federal Judge Maria Isadora Frazao sentenced former army sergeant Antônio Pinheiro de Lima, known as “Camarão”, to 12 years, 11 months and 25 days in a closed‑regime prison. He was convicted of qualified kidnapping and rape of political prisoner and historian Inês Etienne Romeu, crimes committed in 1971 at the clandestine torture centre known as the Casa da Morte in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro. The ruling marks the first conviction in Brazil for a rape committed during the 1964‑85 military dictatorship and includes the loss of his military rank. While the sentence can be appealed, it is hailed as a historic step in holding former state agents accountable for human‑rights violations of the dictatorship era.