fourth world: Brazilian judge battles Rio's "Health Pass", citing a Nazi-style "sanitary dictatorship"

David Montoute

October 3rd

On Wednesday 29th September, Judge Paulo Rangel, from the Court of Appeals of Rio de Janeiro, suspended the requirement of a vaccination passport in the city. The decision was made based on a request made by a resident of the city. In his ruling, Judge Paulo Sergio Rangel says the passport imposes a “sanitary dictatorship” and draws an analogy with slavery. “If in the past slaves and cattle were branded with iron and fire, today the vaccination card separates society. Time passes, but the abusive, illegal and retrograde practices remain the same”.

The judge went on to make a comparison with the Third Reich and the persecutions suffered by minorities: “Another person who knew how to instil fear of enemies in the people was Hitler, who, through Nazi propaganda, instilled fear of Jews and gypsies in the population.”

One day later, however, Rio's City Hall to appealed the decision, and Brazil's Supreme Court on Thursday annulled Judge Rangel's ruling.

The reinstated vaccination passport, brought about by the decree of Mayor Eduardo Paes, is compulsory for access to gyms, swimming pools and tourist attractions. According to Rangel, the document requirement is an affront to the right to freedom of movement:

“I said it on another occasion and I repeat it here. The decree divides society into two types: the vaccinated and the unvaccinated… The mayor says who will walk the streets and who will not: only the vaccinated. And the unvaccinated? They can’t move around the city. Their freedom of movement is restricted. They are marked, tagged, trapped in their homes. And incredible as it may seem, all this is done by decree...a decree cannot prevent people from circulating freely in the city's streets if they are not vaccinated. A decree does not limit the freedom of movement of anyone who is not vaccinated. We are not in a state of defense or siege. And even so, if we were, only through a presidential act within the exact limits of the Constitution.”

The court decision had been requested by a citizen of Rio de Janeiro in an habeas corpus proceeding, although its scope extended to the entire population of the city.

According to the newspaper O Globo, ten more lawsuits have since been filed against the decree with essentially the same content, following a model disclosed by Federal Deputy Chris Tonietto. The parliamentarian shared in her Telegram an habeas corpus template with instructions on how to fill it out, with a step-by-step guide of what people need to do until they arrive at the forum. On her Twitter account, Tonietto celebrated Judge Rangel's decision.

The parliamentarian Chris Tonietto

The strong stance against the "Health Pass" is further supported by President Jair Bolsonaro, who has warned that if the passport were to be accepted, more requirements would soon follow. Bolsonaro personally flouted vaccination rules at the United Nations headquarters in New York last month, addressing the global body in person despite not having received any Covid vaccine.

Underlining the foundation of the anti-pass position, Judge Rangel has stated:

“Whether or not the citizen wants to be vaccinated is his problem, which is supported by the principle of self-determination and the principle of legality, but a municipal decree can never impede the freedom of movement of anyone because he is not vaccinated. It doesn't matter in habeas corpus whether the vaccine is effective or not, or whether those who got vaccinated got infected or not.”

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