Direitos humanos enquanto política pública no Brasil : retratando a experiência do estado do Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

The theme of Human Rights, as public policy, is recent in Brazil. Only after 40 years, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights started inspiring local governments, and the country has effectively included the theme in its political agenda when motivated by the World Conference on Human Rights (Vienna, 1993). In 1996, the first National Program for Human Rights was launched, followed by the foundation of the National Secretariat for Human Rights, in 1997. This thesis is dedicated to the study of human rights and public policy in Brazil, by exposing the experience of the State of Rio de Janeiro.Within this purposes, this study examines issues concerning exclusion, inequality and human rights: it explain the concept and some categories of analysis, whereas the use of these expressions must be guide by the conceptions of human condition and violation of rights. In addition, this paper points out the contributions of philosophers and different conceptions about the notion and history of Human Rights. Moreover, it is presented a reflection about Human Rights in Brazil, by discussing the importance that the Brazilian Constitutions gave to the Human Rights. Besides focusing on the construction process of this policy within the federal government, this study focuses on the same process in the State of Rio de Janeiro the first State of the Federation to establish a Department of government (Secretariat) dedicated to this theme and presents the point of view of three managers,which at some point during the past 11 years, ran State Secretaries for Human Rights