Almost Infamous: Amnesty International,the Bonn Republic,and the Brazilian Dictatorship,1964–85

Abstract

This article examines human rights activism in West Germany on behalf of political prisoners and torture victims in Brazil under the military dictatorship (1964–85). It shows that Amnesty International's model of engagement on behalf of individual prisoners faced significant hurdles, forcing it to rely on support from Bonn's Auswärtiges Amt (Foreign Office). In the late 1960s and early 1970s, German diplomats interpreted their purview narrowly and construed inquiries on behalf of imprisoned Brazilians as interference in Brazil's national sovereignty. As AI improved the quality of its own information gathering, West German officials came to be more supportive of the organization starting in the mid-1970s – without, however, conceding influence over German policy, which remained dominated by economic considerations. This article highlights the importance of the Brazil case for AI's evolving campaign strategies in the early 1970s as well as the reluctance of both Willy Brandt and Helmut Schmidt's governments to question the state repression in Brazil.