Parliament rejected the initiative to declassify military documents until 1975

The Assembly of the Republic this Monday passed a BE draft resolution that intended to declassify all military documents dating back to 1975, voted against by PS, PSD and Chega.

The initiative, which will not have the force of law but will only be a recommendation to the executive branch, received votes in favor of the PCP, BE, PAN and Livre, while the Liberal Initiative abstained.

In a debate moments before the vote, BE MP Joana Mortagua defended that, 50 years after the Wiriyama massacre in Mozambique, “the need to declassify military records before 1975 in order for the population of a democratic state to have access to relevant information.” on the history of the country.

The MP argued that the “overwhelming majority” of documents in the archives of the Armed Forces are classified, “not allowing full or partial access to them by researchers, journalists, scientists, students and other representatives of civil society.”

“Now, based on the fact that the process of democratic consolidation occurs through greater transparency, full access to information, publicity of the activities of state bodies and control of political actions, factors that, in combination with the scientific and technological evolution of modern societies, further support the need to promote declassification documents that were once confidential – denying access to this information is considered redundant, ”said the blogger.

PS MP Diogo Leao agreed with the aim of the initiative, but warned that it was not true, stressing that most of the documents in these archives have been declassified.

In the military-historical archive “there is not a single document before April 25, 1974, which is still classified”, in the archive of the Air Force the situation is identical, and only in the archive of the Navy some remain unclassified, but the Deputy emphasized that the vast majority relating to the colonial period , is public.

With regard to the NATO documents, the socialist warned that Portugal does not have the legal capacity or authority to unilaterally declassify these documents.

Pedro Pessaña of Chega 50 years later accused BE of wanting to open “the wounds of the war, which both Portugal and Mozambique would certainly prefer to be healed by time for the benefit of both countries and both peoples.” ex-soldiers of the Portuguese in the war.

“The purpose of BE has nothing to do with massacres, it is once again, exclusively and exclusively, an attempt to denigrate and ridicule the army and armed forces of Portugal and to humiliate the Portuguese,” he accused.

For the PSD, MP Pedro Roque, citing Chega’s interference, refused to “calculate who killed more, be it the Portuguese army, the liberation movements or the terrorists.”

The Social Democrats also spoke in favor of the general principle of the project and agreed with the PS that most of the documents have already been declassified, leaving a warning.

“The recommendation to disqualify everyone, without exception, violates the provisions on legal proceedings concerning Portuguese military personnel that contain intimate material from people who are alive and are part of Portuguese society after the end of the war period,” he said.

The same concern was expressed by IL MP Patricia Gilvaz who said she agreed with the principle of the project but said the initiative lacked “more solid support” such as defining rules, which organizations are involved in disqualification or the degree of classification of documents meant to be disclosure.

Emphasizing that classification or declassification is subject to its own rules, the communist João Dias viewed the BE project favorably, a position shared by Livre’s sole deputy and historian Rui Tavares, who defended that “there is no mature debate about the past without access to documents” provided by academic circles or researchers.

Also included in the same debate was the PAN bill, which aimed to establish “a legal regime for the transparency of contracts, agreements and other documents relating to transactions that determine the use or availability of public funds in relation to entities belonging to strategic sectors.” which was expressed by several deputies and which was also rejected.

PS voted no, PCP abstained, and PSD, Chega, IL, BE, PAN and Livre voted yes.