International
A Brazilian court decides that offending a white man for his color does not constitute racial insult
The Superior Court of Justice (STJ) of Brazil decided on Tuesday that offenses directed at a white person because of the color of their skin do not constitute racism or racial insult, a crime criminalized in the country and that consists of offending a person because of their race, color, ethnicity or national origin.
According to a sentence unanimously approved by the members of the Sixth Chamber of the court of third instance, racial insult is only configured when the offense is directed at black people because of their race and as a way of discriminating against them.
The decision, which sets a precedent for similar processes, accepted the appeal of a black man accused of racial injury for having called a white man a “European white-headed slaver”. The plaintiff alleged that the accusation did not proceed because there is no so-called “reverse racism”.
The case occurred in the state of Alagoas (northeast) in 2023 and was considered by the Prosecutor’s Office itself as a racial insult.
The third instance magistrates concluded that racial injury does not apply to white people offended by the color of their skin, but that the offense can be considered and sanctioned as another type of crime provided for in the Criminal Code, among which simple insults are included.
According to the judges, the 1989 Brazilian law that criminalized crimes of prejudice by race or color aimed to protect groups historically discriminated against for racism.
The decision, for the same reason, rejects the concept of “reverse racism”, understood as the act in which black people offend white people because of their race or color.
“We reject the concept of reverse racism because racism is a structural phenomenon that has historically affected minority groups and cannot be applied to majority groups in positions of power,” the sentence says.
For the investigating judge of the process, Magistrate Og Fernandes, “it is unfeasible to interpret the existence of a crime of racial insult committed against a person whose skin is white, when such a characteristic is the reason for the offense.”
Unlike racial injury, with penalties of between 2 and 5 years in prison, simple injury provides for penalties of between one and six months in prison.
In Brazil, the country with the largest number of Afro-descendants in the world after Nigeria and with historical social differences due to racial discrimination, 56.1% of the population declares itself black or mulatto, according to the 2022 Census.
International
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe on Monday requested that the Supreme Court restore his freedom while he appeals the historic 12-year house arrest sentence he received for bribery and procedural fraud.
Uribe, the most prominent figure of Colombia’s right wing, was convicted last week by a lower court for attempting to bribe paramilitary members into denying his ties to the violent anti-guerrilla squads.
Since Friday, the 73-year-old has been under house arrest at his residence in Rionegro, about 30 km from Medellín. The judge justified the measure by citing a risk of flight.
However, Uribe’s defense team rejected that argument and formally petitioned the court to immediately lift the detention order, claiming it lacks legal basis.
Uribe, a dominant force in Colombian politics for decades, is now the first former president in the country’s history to be convicted and placed under arrest, found guilty of witness tampering and obstruction of justice to prevent links to paramilitary groups.
He has repeatedly denounced the trial as politically motivated, blaming pressure from the leftist government currently in power.
His political party, Centro Democrático, has called for nationwide protests on August 7 in support of Uribe, who remains popular for his hardline stance against guerrilla groups.
Uribe has until August 13 to submit his written appeal. The case will then move to the Bogotá High Court, which has until October 16 to uphold, overturn, or dismiss the sentence. If the deadline passes without a decision, the case will be archived.
International
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
The poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean is currently engulfed in a deep political crisis and a wave of violence driven by armed groups — a situation that an international security mission led by Kenya is attempting to stabilize.
Due to the worsening security conditions, the U.S. government has suspended all official movements of embassy personnel outside the compound in Port-au-Prince, the U.S. State Department announced Monday in a security alert posted on social media platform X.
“There are intense gunfights in the Tabarre neighborhood, near the U.S. Embassy,” the alert reads, urging the public to avoid the area.
Tabarre is a municipality located near Port-au-Prince International Airport, northeast of the Haitian capital.
According to a July report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at least 3,141 people were killed in Haitibetween January 1 and June 30 of this year.
International
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
The Israeli military announced on Sunday that 136 boxes of food aid were airdropped into Gaza by the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Germany, and Belgium.
“In recent hours, six countries conducted air drops of 136 aid packages containing food for residents in the southern and northern Gaza Strip,” read the statement, which added that the operation was coordinated by COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli military emphasized that they will “continue working to improve the humanitarian response alongside the international community” and reiterated their stance to “refute false allegations of deliberate famine in Gaza.”
The announcement comes as UN agencies warn Gaza faces an imminent risk of famine. More than one in three residents go days without eating, and other nutrition indicators have dropped to their worst levels since the conflict began.
The agencies also noted the difficulty of “collecting reliable data in current conditions, as Gaza’s health systems —already devastated by nearly three years of conflict— are collapsing.”
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reported on Sunday that hospitals in the enclave recorded six deaths from hunger and malnutrition on Saturday, all of them adults.
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
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Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction