Judgment on the death of 96 babies in Cabo Frio has an apology and thrilled reports from family members

Inter-American Corte Judges Brazil for deaths of newborns the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Corte HDI) held on Friday (26), in Asuncion, Paraguay, the first public hearing of the judgment of the case “Mothers of Cabo Frio vs. Brazil”. International proceedings investigate human rights violations related to the death of at least 96 newborns in the Neonatal ICU of the Pediatric Clinic of the Lakes Region (Clipel) in Cabo Frio (RJ), between June 1996 and March 1997. The session had testimonials from family members, representatives of the Brazilian State and the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR). The sentence will be released in the coming weeks, following the submission of the final allegations written by the parties until October 28. For lawyer Daniela Fichino, who represents the families of the victims, the Brazilian state had a cordial stance, but presented a limited number of violations recognition. According to her, the international court can help alleviate the pain of these families. “The expectation is that the Inter -American Court can bring a sentence that is entitled to the whole struggle of these families, which recognizes the violation of the duty to investigate, that recognizes the violation of judicial guarantees, the violation of the right to health, the integrity of families. This is a case that has mobilized many mothers for a long time and now deserves a result and recognition of the size of this pain,” Fichino said at the end of the hearing. 📱 Bake the G1 app to see real -time RJ news and for free pain, fight and search for justice during the audience, family members reported in detail the suffering experienced almost three decades ago. Helena Gonçalves dos Santos, who lost her daughter at age 15, described negligence in care, lack of access to her daughter after giving birth and omission of information about the baby’s health. “We wanted to be breastfeeding and this right was taken from us. (…) They didn’t let us be mothers. To this day, no one has ever supported us, no one has ever treated our case. (…) What we wanted was to have our children here,” said Helena. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (HDI) judges this Friday (26), in Asuncion, the case “Cabo Frio Vs. Brazil”, which investigates the death of 96 newborns in the Neonatal UCA of Clipel Clinic, between 1996 and 1997. unnecessary in the ICU. “Our son died in front of us. (…) We called a neonatal medical friend, who said our son had been admitted to the uti unnecessarily, who was almost immediately infected with the ICU entrance, and that the ministered antibiotic had been wrong,” he recalled. Reports reinforced the complaint that babies were victims of hospital infections caused by practices incompatible with basic health surveillance standards. Lawyer Daniela Fichino, who represents the families of the victims, stressed that the case reveals serious failures of surveillance in services agreed to SUS. “Between 1996 and 97, all these mothers who are here were treated at Santa Isabel Hospital (…). His babies were admitted to the Clipel Neonatal ICU and from there they never went out to the cribs that were ready in their homes. Already the expert Maria de Lurdes de Oliveira Moura reinforced, during her statement, that the babies were victims of hospital infections caused by practices incompatible with basic health surveillance standards. She pointed to the state’s omission in preventing, inspection, investigation, liability and reparation to families. Apologies and failure recognition during the hearing, the Brazilian State officially apologized for human rights violations related to the deaths of babies. Inter-American Corte Judges Brazil for deaths of newborns in Cabo Frio ICU in the 1990s Union lawyer, Ilina Pontes, acknowledged that the functioning of the clinic without the necessary authorizations and inspections represented a violation of the state obligation to protect children. The state also apologized for discriminatory manifestations of the Ministry of Health during the determination of the facts. “This omission represents a violation of the state obligation to ensure the protection of children, especially those in hospital facilities, albeit private,” said Pontes. “For this reason, the Brazilian state solemnly asks for the mothers of Cabo Frio and their families,” said the representative of AGU. Regarding the accusation of violation of judicial guarantees and judicial protection, the AGU argued that the Brazilian State adopted the legally appropriate measures, promoting the investigation and proposing the criminal action in relation to the death of 96 babies. The investigated were later acquitted by the court. “The State understands that judicial guarantees were duly offered in relation to the facts object of the present demand,” said Pontes. During the trial, representatives of the Brazilian State also affirmed the desire to resume dialogues with the victims’ relatives in an attempt to build a consensual solution to the case. “An agreement that can adequately and proportionally meet the interests of family members, the procedural limits of the case, the institutional reality of the country and the inter -American parameters to protect human rights,” said the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during oral allegations. Despite the apology, the AGU recalled that most of the facts related to the case and the possible violations arising from them are outside the HDI Court temporal jurisdiction, as they are prior to the adhesion of Brazil to the court’s contentious jurisdiction, on December 10, 1998, without retroactive effect. Empty Recognition Lawyer Daniela Fichino criticized the recognition made by the Brazilian State and the proposal of agreement presented to families. “The state presented its intention to make a deal with nothing. It did not present any measure. Despite all kindness and cordiality, they presented an empty proposal of content,” said the lawyer of the families. She also questioned the state’s apology: “I want to ask if the apology also prescribed.” “It seems to me a great strategy, how to do things go well, and at the same time nothing changes, nothing goes ahead. This is the feeling about recognition and apology and also about the proposal according to you had no content,” said Fichino. The lawyer also pointed out that the Brazilian state only sought families for an agreement after marking the hearing at the International Court, more than 27 years after the beginning of violations in Cabo Frio. Representatives of the Inter -American Commission on Human Rights. President Roberta Clarke appears to the center. Esther vacancy to the president of the Inter -American Commission on Human Rights, Roberta Clarke, said that the Brazilian state did not take the initiative to repair families. “This court can repair and bring justice to these families who really deserve this reparation. Families deserve to be free from the guilt that the state and its authorities have attributed them,” Clarke said. What happens now with the end of the hearing, the parties have until October 28 to submit final written allegations. The sentence will be released in the following weeks. If convicted, Brazil may be required to pay compensation, offer psychological assistance to families, reopen investigations and adopt measures to avoid new deaths in Neonatal ICUs. Global Justice has proposed the construction of a memorial in Cabo Frio, stricter protocols of health surveillance and advances in maternal and neonatal health policies. The trial is considered an international landmark, as it deals with structural violations to the right to health of newborns. The Court’s decision may open precedents for liability in similar cases and force changes in public health policies. Remember the case between June 1996 and March 1997, about 96 newborns died at the Clipel Neonatal ICU in Cabo Frio. Almost 100 babies died in Cabo Frio Neonatal ICU Reproduction/TV Globo reports pointed out hospital infection outbreaks by agents such as Klebsiella. The deaths were reported by family members, who formed the Cabo Frio Mothers Association. The local investigation resulted in complaints against doctors, but all were acquitted for lack of causal link. In 2000, families took the case to the inter -American system. In 2022, the IACHR concluded that Brazil violated rights to life, health, judicial protection, childhood and equality. In 2024, the case was submitted to the HDI Court. Timeline: 1996–1997: Deaths in Clipel Neonatal ICU 1997–1999: Local Investigations and Complaints 2000: Petition to the Inter -American System 2003–2007: Absolution in Brazilian Justice 2022: ICD concludes that there were violations 2024: Case was submitted to the Court 2025: Public Hearing in Asuncion

Source link