São Paulo Court rules torture claims are not subject to statute of limitations

The Court of Justice of São Paulo (TJSP) has unanimously ruled that compensation claims for torture committed by state agents are not subject to a statute of limitations. This decision applies even to acts committed outside the period of the military dictatorship.

The ruling follows an appeal by the State of São Paulo regarding a lawsuit filed by Maurício Monteiro, a survivor of the 1992 Carandiru Massacre. In that incident, at least 111 inmates were killed by military police at the Casa de Detenção. Monteiro sought moral damages after witnessing the execution of a cellmate and being subjected to physical coercion and human rights violations.

The State argued that the claim had expired under the five-year limit for actions against the Public Power, asserting that the principle of imprescriptibility only applied to political persecution during the military regime. However, the court rejected this, stating that the severity of rights violations remains the central factor regardless of whether the crime occurred during an exceptional regime or a democracy.