EM BUSCA DA "VERDADE REAL": TORTURA E CONFISSÃO NO BRASIL ONTEM E HOJE^*

Abstract:

The starting point of this essay are the differences in the forms of inquiry in Brazil and England based on a report of a foreign traveler of the nineteenth century containing the author's view on the administration of justice in the city of Rio de Janeiro informed by his experience of a theft. I point to the remarkable permanence and persistence of an epistemological belief in the value of confession and torture to obtain evidence, which still informs the production practices of truth in contemporary Brazil. One of the reasons of this permanence is that in the juridical records, investigation can be presented as it should have been carried out and not as it was actually done.

Keywords: Torture; Police; Confession; Inquest report; Brazil