4. In the course of her visit, the Special Representative met with a host of civil society representatives remarkable for their number, enthusiasm and level of collective organization. The Special Representative was extremely impressed to see how vibrant the human rights movement has been in Brazil, despite difficult circumstances. She notes that human rights defenders reported that the fight against dictatorship greatly contributed to building awareness of civil and political rights, and extensive networks of NGOs were formed.  Human rights organizations continued to proliferate with the beginning of the political opening, and in particular in the 1990s.  While organizations initially concentrated their efforts on reporting violations of civil and political rights, they gradually expanded the scope of their mandate and have incorporated diverse human rights causes, particularly in relation to economic, social, environmental and cultural rights and to discrimination based on race, sexual orientation and gender.

link to full text of Mission report: http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G06/118/64/PDF/G0611864.pdf