Defensores de direitos humanos, presentes! Estado, violência e memória no “caso Nicinha”

Abstract

This dissertation deals with the trajectory of human rights defender Nilce de Souza, better known as "Nicinha". Through its trajectory, it seeks to understand how the process of categorization and subjection of subjects denominated "defenders of human rights" occurs, through the unfolding consequences of the State making. The research was carried out through fieldwork in Rondônia, specifically in the municipality of Abunã, where Nicinha militated against the effects of the implementation of the Jirau - RO Hydroelectric Power Plant. Besides the field, the work proposes an extensive documentary analysis, either through an anthropological report, police investigation, expert reports, among others, making it possible to observe and describe the practices and procedures of the public administration that inscribe the struggle undertaken by Nicinha and the other riparians affected by the effects of the Hydroelectric Plant until their assassination. The analysis of these documents revealed the different statements that involve the State's modes of operation and the production of memory around the trajectory of human rights activists throughout the country.