Terrorism, social movements and democracy: an analysis on the proposed amendment of Law 13,260 of 2016, in Brazil

Abstract

The article analyzes possibilities of impacts on social manifestations to be triggered by a proposed amendment of Law 13,260/2016 (Antiterrorism Law) by Senate Bill 272/2016, which aims to intensify penalties on actions considered as acts of terrorism. The revival of this debate occurred in early 2019, when criminal collectives, known as facções [factions], involved in the drug market in Ceará State, promoted a series of violent actions that radically altered people’s daily lives, leading the population to cry out for severe State attitudes against what was perceived as terrorism. The qualitative research points out the dynamics of drug factions in Ceará State and the differences in relation to other modalities of social organization historically focused on the struggle for constitutional rights, as well as demonstrating the difficulties in classifying acts carried out by criminal collectives as terrorists, without simultaneously providing the State with the means to also curb the practices of social movements, including for political reasons. It is concluded that the effects of possible changes in the Antiterrorism Law would be severe for the dynamics of democracy, possibly repressing historically fundamental collective practices to ensure multiple rights in a plural society.

Keywords
Antiterrorism Law; factions; social protests; democracy