Institutional Act Number Five

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The Institutional Act Number Five (Portuguese: Ato Institucional Número Cinco), commonly known as AI-5, was the fifth of seventeen extra-legal Institutional Acts issued by the military dictatorship in the years following the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état. The AI-5 suspended most civil rights, including habeas corpus, and allowed the removal from office of opposition politicians, and federal interventions in municipalities and states. It enabled institutionalization of arbitrary detention, torture, and extrajudicial killing by the regime. It was issued by President Artur da Costa e Silva on December 13, 1968. Institutional Acts were not subject to judicial review, and superseded both the previous 1946 constitution and the 1967 constitution enacted by the regime. By suspending habeas corpus, the AI-5 enabled human rights abuses by the regime. Sometimes called o golpe dentro do golpe ('the coup within the coup'), the AI-5 was the most impactful of all Institutional Acts. Written by Minister...

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