Tiger in a Cage

The OHCHR (UN Human Rights Committee) ruled on Friday that jailed former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva must be allowed to run as a candidate in the Brazilian presidential election in October. Lula, nominated as a candidate by the Workers’ Party, is leading the polls by a wide margin, despite he is currently serving a 12-year sentence on political charges – which his opponents considered more than enough for getting him out of the race. Instead, the Committee issued the finding following an urgent request filed by Lula’s lawyers on July 27, urging Brazil “not to prevent him from standing for election in the 2018 presidential elections, until his appeals before the courts have been completed in fair judicial proceedings”. Because Brazil has ratified both the CCPR – International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the CCPR-OP1 – Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights treaties, it is technically and juridically obligated to abide by the Committee’s findings. Photo: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters.