VPI Blog – Navigating Brazil’s Security and Human Rights Landscape
May 23, 2025 •
In 2025, Avanzar LLC consultancy interviewed several stakeholders in Brazil in the oil, gas and energy and mining sectors, government institutions and civil society. Their research provides a snapshot on current security and human rights risks, a summary of which is provided below.
Brazil has a robust normative and institutional human rights system, both in terms of civil and political rights and economic, social, and cultural rights. The internalization of international codes and norms applicable to the use of force in public security has been occurring gradually over the past two decades, with significant advances recorded in the last fifteen years.
Examples of regulatory advances include: i) the adoption in 2010 of the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials (BPUFF) and the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials via Interministerial Ordinance; ii) adoption of a law in 2014 to regulate the “use of less-lethal weapons by public security agents”; iii) a National Committee for Monitoring the Use of Force, composed of representatives from public security forces and civil society, established to track implementation and offers a channel for civil society oversight; and iv) measures strengthening the human rights and use of force content in private security training.
Nevertheless, the country maintains alarming levels of homicides by law enforcement forces, with an increase of almost 200% between 2013 and 2023. In recent years, national and international NGOs reported widespread police killings, excessive use of force, forced disappearances, torture and corruption in Brazilian public security system.
Overall, persons interviewed identified a wide range of security and human rights risks including those relating to public security, private security, organized crime, and contextual risks in complex areas.
Upstream Security and Human Rights Risks Identified by Stakeholders
One of the main current challenges related to public security in Brazil is the territorial expansion and economic diversification of organized crime which has been drawing the attention of authorities and business leaders operating in the country. In addition to the spread into neighboring countries, factions originating mainly in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo are now also present in other regions of Brazil. In the “Legal Amazon”, which covers 9 Brazilian states in the northern region, 22 organized crime groups were identified in 2023 across 178 municipalities, home to nearly 60% of the population in the area. By 2024, the number of affected municipalities had jumped to 260.
Increasingly active in narco-mining (narcogarimpo)—an activity that combines drug trafficking and illegal mining—organized crime has also been engaging in practices of theft, adulteration, and clandestine trade of fuels and lubricants, as well as ethanol production, in various regions of the country. According to experts, the current revenue from the activity is already four times higher than that obtained from cocaine trafficking. Companies operating in areas where these groups are present are already facing security challenges, such as armed incursions, product theft, and heightened levels of violence in the surrounding areas of operations.
The advancement of organized crime was pointed out by mining, oil and gas, and energy companies as one of the most significant emerging risks to consider. They also similarly identified well known security risks in the relationships with indigenous peoples, quilombolas1 and traditional communities, and risks associated with disputes over land and natural resources, as among the most relevant. Although in different degrees, these industries’ operations and expansions take place in rural regions, often isolated, in states where there is a presence of autochthonous populations, in territories coveted by other actors, in a context often marked by tension and violence.
Mining companies saw a critical risk in the excessive or disproportionate use of force when public security is called upon to handle security incidents. Also, they showed concern in the lack of assurance of a due legal process for individuals taken into custody for illicit actions committed against the company. For oil and gas companies, the risk of contamination stands out, as leaks can seriously harm persons, livestock and the environment, and generate major accidents such as explosions and fires.
Surveys and interviews with national and international stakeholders representing different groups of civil society and government revealed several risks concerning human rights and security in the context of mining, oil and gas and energy operations. These include risks inherent to the contexts of operations (uncontrolled spread of organized crime, including militias); risks perceived as aggravated by the presence of companies (sexual exploitation of children and adolescents, land and natural resources disputes); and those related to both the company’s actions, regarding private security, and inaction, such as the lack of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) processes for indigenous and traditional communities. It is worth underscoring that a few of the risks pointed out by this group of stakeholders were not mentioned or considered to be critical by the companies, in particular risks associated with private security such as behavior of guards and the participation of public officers in private security services.
The companies consulted revealed different preventive and mitigation capacities to deal with the aforementioned risks. The study showed also that their preparedness to face existing and emerging security and human rights risks in Brazil seems to be directly related to the level of implementation of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPSHR).
A Shared Path Forward
Government, companies, and civil society can work together collectively to help address and mitigate upstream security and human rights risks in Brazil. In a landscape where security, human rights and sustainable development are intertwined, the VPI’s multi-stakeholder In-Country Working Group (ICWG) in Brazil can contribute—by providing a practical forum where those actors exchange lessons, build capacity and establish joint efforts to embed the VPSHR into security practices.
If you would like to find out more about the activities of the Brazil ICWG, or to engage with the working group, please contact the VPI Secretariat at info@voluntaryprinciples.org.
This blog is drawn from the work of Avanzar LLC in supporting the Brazil In-Country Working Group.
1. Quilombolas are self-identified ethnic-racial groups, with their own historical trajectory, and specific territorial relationships, with a presumption of Black ancestry related to resistance to historical oppression. (Decree 4887, dated November 20th, 2003).