A/HRC/59/62/Add.1 Annex Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, Ashwini K.P., on her visit to Brazil I. Introduction 1. During her visit, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance travelled to Brasília, Salvador, São Luís, São Paulo, Florianópolis and Rio de Janeiro. She met with a wide range of representatives from federal and state-level government and the justice system. She also met with over 120 representatives of communities and civil society groups, the Resident Coordinator, and members of the Inter-Agency Thematic Group on Gender, Race and Ethnicity. 2. The Special Rapporteur thanks the federal Government for its open and positive engagement and for all its efforts to facilitate her visit. She also extends her gratitude to all the state-level officials and justice-sector actors who engaged in dialogue with her. The Special Rapporteur also expresses her deep appreciation to the United Nations country team and to all the civil society representatives with whom she met for their cooperation. II. Background A. General background 3. Brazil is a vast country divided into the following five major regions: the North, North-East, Mid-West, South-East and South Regions. The country has 26 states and one federal district. It is a federal republic formed of the Federal Union, the states, the municipalities and the Federal District. The country has a presidential system, with the President of Brazil as the Head of the Government and of the State. 1 4. Brazil is very diverse in its demographic, climatic, cultural and social characteristics. The country was under Portuguese rule for more than three centuries. Brazil gained its independence in 1822. Enslavement was abolished in 1888, prior to which it is estimated that Brazil received the largest number of enslaved individuals trafficked from Africa to the Americas.2 Following independence, the country went through periods of civilian rule and military dictatorship before the National Congress adopted the current Constitution in 1988. 5. According to the most recent census, carried out in 2022, Brazil has a population of just over 203 million people, of which approximately 92.1 million persons (45.3 per cent of the population) self-identify as brown, 88.2 million (43.5 per cent) as white, 20.6 million (10.2 per cent) as Black, 1.7 million (0.8 per cent) as Indigenous and 850,100 (0.4 per cent) as Asian.3 B. Legal framework 6. Brazil has a civil legal system. The Constitution of Brazil came into force, in 1988, in response to the demands of Brazilian society, following the end of the military regime that was in place between 1964 and 1985. It follows several previous constitutions in Brazil. Brazil has ratified the majority of the international human rights treaties, including the 1 2 3 2 HRI/CORE/BRA/2020, para. 126. Leonardo Marques “The slave trade in the U.S. and Brazil: comparisons and connections”, blog post, Yale University Press, 21 November 2016. Caio Belandi and Irene Gomes, “2022 census: self-reported brown population is the majority in Brazil for the first time”, Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, 2022. GE.25-06011