The Brazilian government has apologized for human rights violations in the persecution and imprisonment of Japanese immigrants in the years following World War II. Eina de Stutz e Almeida, chair of the Amnesty Committee, an advisory body under the Brazilian Ministry of Human Rights that analyzes requests for amnesty and compensation for victims of political persecution in the country, stated, "I want to apologize on behalf of the Brazilian state for the persecution that your ancestors suffered, and for all the barbarities, atrocities, cruelty, torture, bias, ignorance, xenophobia, and racism."
The committee approved the apology during a session in the capital, Brasília, attended by members of the Brazilian government and prominent members of the Japanese community. The flags of both countries were displayed on the table where the speakers sat. A report issued by the Amnesty Committee acknowledged the sending of 172 migrants to a detention camp off the coast of São Paulo, where they were subjected to mistreatment and torture from 1946 to 1948. The committee's rapporteur, Vanda Davi Fernandes de Oliveira, stated, "The documents unequivocally prove the political persecution and justify the declaration of political amnesty for the Japanese community and their descendants."
