Flávio Dino will question Anac’s rule on inspection at airports

The Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino, said this Thursday (11) that he will formally question a rule by the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) that regulates the inspection and supervision of passengers inside airports. The statement comes after state deputy Renato Freitas (PT-PR), who is black, suffered an atypical police approach already inside the plane, in Foz do Iguaçu (PR), after boarding a flight to Londrina. A video recorded on May 3 and published last Wednesday (10) on the parliamentarian’s own social networks shows Freitas leaving the aircraft and then being inspected along with his on-board luggage. In the video, one of the Federal Police agents claims that the procedure is random and defined by the system. The episode generated great repercussions on social networks, with accusations of racism, reaffirmed by the parliamentarian himself in the recording. “The first manifestation of the Foz do Iguaçu airport was in the sense that this inspection is carried out in two phases. There’s the portal phase, you go through the X-ray [e pode ser fiscalizado]. And there is an Anac resolution that determines a complementary inspection in some people. I myself, I think that in November or December, I had this supplementary inspection, which was a new resolution by Anac”, explained Dino in an interview with the UOL news website. “I will ask Minister Márcio [França, de Portos e Aeroportos], even formally, to see if he thinks that this resolution should be maintained, what is the reason for this resolution,” added Dino, who considered the police approach inside the plane to be atypical. “Regarding the PF [Polícia Federal]strictly, Doctor Andrei [Passos, diretor-geral] is proceeding with the investigation [administrativa]”, continued the minister, in relation to the conduct of the agents during the inspection. Resolution The regulation to which Flávio Dino refers is Resolution No. 515 of May 8, 2019, which provides for civil aviation inspection procedures against acts of unlawful interference at airports. The text provides that “at random and whenever deemed necessary, passengers must undergo additional security measures, which may include a personal search, manual inspection of hand luggage and the use of explosive trace detectors and other security equipment”. For Flávio Dino, it is necessary to clarify whether this rule ensures that there is an effectively random inspection procedure. The minister did not rule out that the practice could be seen as racism. “Unfortunately, we have a society where racism is ingrained in all institutions,” he noted. In a note, the PF reported that on May 3 it was called in to assist a civil aviation protection agent in the inspection of a passenger who allegedly refused to submit to additional security measures at the airport. “This would have refused to go through the procedure at the indicated location and went directly to the aircraft. In this way, the airport inspection team called the PF to accompany her to the plane and carry out the proper inspection”. “The Federal Police clarifies that all procedures were carried out in accordance with the resolution of the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac). It also emphasizes that any abuses or failures in the conduct of the procedure will be investigated”, concludes the note. Contradiction In response to the version of the Federal Police, the advisory of Deputy Renato Freitas informed that “at no time was there a refusal for the magazine”. According to the report, he followed the standard procedure of going through the metal detector and his belongings through the baggage scanner, as did the other passengers. “Later, however, a Civil Aviation Protection Agent (Apac) intercepted him, saying that, in addition to passing through the devices, he would have been ‘drawn’ for a thorough search”, says the note. According to the deputy, there was no visual signage, whistle or any note of this random inspection. “Freitas answered promptly, without any resistance. Due to boarding being closed, the deputy asked the employee to notify the airline that he would arrive soon, so that he would not miss the flight. In response, the employee said that she could not carry out the order and withdrew”, points out the report. The deputy remained in the x-ray area, waiting for the agent to forward it, while reaffirming that “they could continue with the search on him and his belongings”. “As there was no interest in the search on the part of the employees who were there, Renato went to the plane, where minutes later he was surprised by the Federal Police, accompanied by one of the employees who had already refused to search the baggage scanner. The employee even admitted, in front of the PF, and the recording that Freitas made on his cell phone, that the deputy had allowed the search at the time of boarding”, he adds. For the parliamentarian, the information disclosed by the PF is contradictory. “The deputy at no time refused to go through the search, even if it is at least strange that he was the only one ‘chosen’ for such a procedure during boarding. At all times, Freitas was willing to follow all of the employees’ guidelines, as the videos demonstrate. In addition, the note also does not mention the airport security cameras, which could clarify the case.” The parliamentarian asks for the case to be investigated and considers that the greatest responsibility for the embarrassment experienced by the deputy does not lie with the Federal Police, but with the Civil Aviation Protection Agents, who called the police. Woman expelled In another recent case, researcher from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Samantha Vitena, a black woman, was removed from a Gol plane, in Salvador, during a discussion regarding the dispatch of a suitcase. The case took place at the end of April. The case is being investigated by government agencies, including the Federal Police.

Agência Brasil