Miyake Darci, who was involved in guerrilla activities with Marighella and suffered torture

A ceremony marking "50 years since the military coup - eradicating dictatorship" was held on March 31 behind Police Precinct 36 in the southern part of the city of Sao Paulo, right in front of a military facility that once gathered and analyzed information through the arrest and torture of left-wing activists. Holding photographs of activists who are still missing and young people who were tortured to death, several thousand participants called for the unearthing of historical facts about human rights violations during the military government and a review of the Anestia Law, which granted amnesty to those who were involved. We visited the vivid scars of history, where photographs of Japanese-American victims were also seen.

Front row of the 50th anniversary event venue (photo of Japanese-American activist Yoshitane Fujiwara on the far left)

"My family didn't understand what I was doing," said Miyake Darci (68, second generation), who participated in guerrilla activities with the ALN (Action for the National Liberation of Brazil), an armed group led by Carlos Marighella, the "guru of urban guerrilla warfare."

Darci Miyake

Mr. Miyake, who was an elite student at the USP law school at the time, was captured by the Army DOI-Codi (hereafter referred to as DC) in Guanabara (Rio) on January 25, 1972, and brought to the OBAN headquarters in Sao Paulo on the 28th. He was only 27 years old.

"I was kidnapped and held captive in DC for seven months without an arrest warrant," Miyake said, pointing to a building nearby. "They tortured me every day for a month to try to get information out of me. After that, they tortured me about twice a week. It was a horrible experience that I can't put into words," he recalled.

According to a Brazilian National Press article dated December 12, 2013, at the Federal Truth Commission held that day, Miyake determined that the man who tortured her, codenamed "Captain Ubirajara," was undoubtedly the former municipal police investigator Aparecido Laertes Calandra who was standing before her. She testified, "I suffered as I was tortured with electric shocks by him and his subordinates, even on my ears, feet, hands, and genitals. I believe he was involved in the murders of many of my comrades."

The launch of Operation Bandeirantes (OBAN), a campaign to suppress left-wing activity that had been under consideration since the start of military rule in 1964, is said to have led the military government to the next stage in human rights violations. It began in July 1969 as a joint operation by the Department of Political and Social Police (DOPS), the Federal Police, the Municipal Police, and the Public Security Forces, which were involved in cracking down on left-wing movements.

According to a paper by Mariana Rangel Jofiri of the USP, presented at the 23rd National History Symposium in 2005, the operation was funded by a group of multinational corporations, including Ultra Group, Ford, and General Motors.

Based on the experience of PBAN, the Directorate for Information Operations (DOI) and the Center for Security Actions (CODI), consisting of similar members, were established as permanent organizations under the direct control of the military in July 1970. The former was responsible for commanding operational activities and conducting searches, arrests, and interrogations, while the latter was responsible for intelligence analysis and coordination with various military departments.

Regarding the fact that many torture victims have testified that he was indisputably named as "Captain Ubirajara," the investigator flatly denied any involvement at the commission, saying, "I have absolutely no recollection of it. I have never been involved in human rights violations such as torture."

The building where many journalists and activists, including Kultura TV executive Vladimir Erzoki, are said to have been tortured and then "disappeared," or "died of illness," or "committed suicide," was eerily quiet despite the hustle and bustle of the event.

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*This article is reprinted with permission from the Japanese-language newspaper Nikkei Shimbun (April 5, 2014).

© 2014 Nikkey Shimbun