A barber chat about human rights in Rio de Janeiro

Human rights seem to be an easy subject. Everyone has an opinion about it. Some people have associated human rights to natural rights, meaning that they are universal, intrinsically related to human nature, and shouldn't depend on any legislation or precedent. But in reality, people are divided into passionate supporters and detractors of human rights.

I don't feel very motivated to talk about human rights, usually. I preach for converts or I'm stoned by opponents. But how could we stop talking about it in the violent and unequal city of Rio? What could be more relevant instead? That's what I intend to answer.

A recent chat made me think again about this subject. I went to the barber shop in front of the building where I live in Rio to get a haircut. I remember thanking the barber for the magazines he offered me a few moments after I arrived. I can't read without glasses, I said. But the main reason I chose not to read is that I believe a barber needs to talk to his clients in order not to be bored. The more he chats, the richer is his speech to the next client. I don't remember who started talking about violence in the city but that was our topic.

Soon we were exchanging details about the murder of an old woman on the sidewalk, two blocks away, the day before. Here's what happened, told me the barber: two thieves tried to rob a stationary store in the afternoon. A private security guard saw them entering the store with guns. A shooting ensued, and one of the thieves shot the old lady on the sidewalk with the purpose of causing panic and escaping, while the security guard would try to save the life of the victim. The three shooters were wounded, but only the old lady died. To finish his version, he added: they are terrorists.

Earlier this year I heard a similar story from the same street Conde de Bonfim in Tijuca, a middle class neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro. Persecuted by the police, thieves in a robbed car shot to death a waiter at the balcony of a restaurant to force the policemen to stop the persecution and help the victim. Those are stories of terrorism, I agree.

Moving his scissors vigorously, the barber was sure about one thing: human rights are made to protect tramps and criminals, and he pronounced those names with hate. If the security guard shoots, innocent people can die. If he doesn't shoot, the store is robbed at a rate it can't endure for a long time. It's a real dilemma.

Even though I will probably never see murders or the shootings we can hear from the nearest favelas, the news are always suggesting cariocas to walk the streets in alert.

The police in Rio de Janeiro doesn't investigate much. 88% of the homicides go unsolved. And the reasons for that are many: corruption, low wages, lack of money, disregard towards the life of poor people...

I was troubled by the way the barber talked about human rights. I wish I could reply with some wise words, but I have noticed that everytime I try to advocate human rights in Rio de Janeiro, I fail. The barber can't tolerate crime anymore.

When people say criminals must be killed even without a fair trial, because impunity is the cause of crime in our city, that is apology to crime, which is a crime in itself. Well... maybe it doesn't mean they would kill criminals if they saw a crime being committed. It means that those people would like to live under more severe laws, that would allow them to shoot criminals to death in the crime scenes, even when the criminals are not threatening other lives.

I think differently. In fact, I think they miss the point. Our policemen not only fail to solve homicides, they kill lots of suspects and innocent people, and our prisons are absurdly crowded. But if we agree that our policemen lack the material or moral conditions to work properly, there is no point in proclaiming human rights as the solution to homicides or police violence.

A declaration of human rights don't cause peace by itself. The implementation of human rights is rather a consequence of the development of our civilization and our history, with mature democracy, strong economy, less corruption and more equality, including healthcare and education for everyone. In order to beat violence we need to cultivate those virtues in our community.

There's no way to defeat crime using the police force alone, because when placed in a corrupted political system, a poor and uneducated police can't be strong or efficient enough. So, what I propose is a truce in this debate about human rights. We shouldn't fight about protecting or not the criminals. If we are against crime we should use this common sense to build better solutions together.

Social media has a fundamental role in society today. It has a huge influence on individuals, on behavior, on politics, elections and so on. In social media in general, people engage frequently in debates about human rights. Although the subject is important, I believe we are loosing focus. Let's quit picking fights on facebook and start building something real.

I don't mean human rights should be forgotten. They must be part of our education. But there are different ways to think about them, and we should not try to impose a certain point of view. I've learned in criminal law books that social circumstances play an important role in the way we treat crime and criminals. For instance, in places where lots of people starve, food robbery is not tolerated, but in other places where most of the people have enough to eat, an exceptional food robbery by someone who is starving can be well tolerated. And it happens even if the two places have similar laws. In the first case, judges would say "he could have asked a friend for help". But in the second case, the robbery would be justified by hunger: "he couldn't act differently". It's an economical problem. We tend to punish starving robbery when most of the people are starving because tolerance in this case would lead society into chaos. Judges are not taught to behave like this, they just do. And laymen are no different, generally.

We have to solve the fundamental issues that produce violence. From the perspective of a carioca, I believe that those who praise or despise human rights, together could defeat corruption, fight for better education and for investments in science and sustainable innovation, a sure way to generate great value in the world's present economy.

I believe I'm contributing to generate value with my work as a lawyer, which includes an ambitious project called Genecoin. If we manage together to generate value and break down inequality, violence will fall and human rigths will take its place, not simply to protect criminals, but as a consequence of our success. And when I say 'we', I'm including you! So, tell me about you... Are you doing something to create value and break down inequality?