Marcos Rolim , 51 anos, é jornalista formado pela Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM) e mestre em sociologia pela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), onde realiza seu doutoramento. É professor da Cátedra de Direitos Humanos no Centro Universitário Metodista-IPA e atua como consultor em Segurança Pública e Direitos Humanos. Presta serviços para Prefeituras, órgãos públicos e ONGs, sendo consultor ad hoc da UNESCO, do PNUD, da UNICEF e do BID. No âmbito do Governo Federal, colabora com a Secretaria Especial de Direitos Humanos e com a Secretaria Nacional de Segurança Pública. É membro fundador do Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública e do Instituto Brasileiro de Justiça Restaurativa.

Quando Deputado Federal, foi vice-líder do PT e presidiu a Comissão de Direitos Humanos da Câmara. Na CDH, organizou as “Caravanas Nacionais de Direitos Humanos”, atravessando o Brasil 6 vezes em visitas a manicômios, presídios, polícias, FEBENS, abrigos de crianças e asilos de idosos. Seus principais projetos no Congresso envolveram temas como a Reforma Penal, a moderação do uso da força e das armas de fogo pela polícia, a restrição à eletroconvulsoterapia, os direitos civis dos homossexuais, a anistia à deserção nas FFAA e a regulação ética da programação televisiva.

Sua militância em Direitos Humanos lhe assegurou inúmeras distinções, entre elas o primeiro Prêmio UNESCO em Direitos Humanos no Brasil, em 1999.

Possui curso de Atualização Legislativa nos EUA e curso de especialização em Política Prisional e Saúde Mental na Espanha. Durante o ano de 2003, até março de 2004, Rolim residiu em Oxford, na Inglaterra, onde desenvolveu uma pesquisa sobre o tema “Experiências Exitosas de Segurança Pública”, na Oxford University. Foi conferencista na Mit Sweden University, na Suécia; na Universitá di Lecce, na Itália, na Oxford University, Inglaterra; na Assembléia Nacional do Vietnan, entre outros países. Como resultado do trabalho de pesquisa no Reino Unido, Rolim escreveu o livro “A Síndrome da Rainha Vermelha: policiamento e segurança pública no século XXI” (Zahar, 2006). É autor, ainda, de “A Imitação da Política” (Editora Tchê), “Teses para uma Esquerda Humanista” (Editora Sulina), “Desarmamento, evidências científicas” (Editoras DaCasa/ Palmarinca), “Mais educação, menos violência (UNESCO) e “Bullying: o pesadelo da escola” (Dom Quixote).

Biographical Details:

Marcos Rolim, 51 years old, is a journalist graduated by Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) and master of sociology by Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), where he went on to do his doctorate. He's professor at the Methodist Universitary Centre - IPA, in Porto Alegre/RS and a consultant in Public Security and Human Rights. He works for the mayoralty, public agencies and NGOs, and is ad hoc consultant to UNESCO, UNDP, UNICEF and IDB. Within the framework of the Federal Government, he works together with the Special Secretary for Human Rights and the National Secretary for Public Safety. He is one of the foundation members of "Brazilian Security Forum" and “Brazilian Restorative Justice Institute”.

He first began his militancy in the 1970s. He was a member of Amnesty International and a prominent student leader in Rio Grande do Sul. He was councilman in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul; served two terms as State Deputy in the Legislative Assembly and one term as Federal Deputy for the PT (Workers Party). Mr Rolim was head of the Human Rights Commission for the regional parliament for six consecutive years. He conceived and edited the “Blue Report” - the most comprehensive report on Human Rights published in Brazil. He is the author of the first Psychiatric Reform law in Brazilian History and the first national legislation for the protection of witnesses under threat and victims of violence.

When he was Federal Deputy, he was the vice-leader of the PT and headed the Human Rights Commission in the Chamber of Deputies. In the HRC, he organized the “National Human Rights Caravans”, traversing Brazil six times, visiting psychiatric hospitals, penitentiaries, police stations, FEBENS (juvenile custody units), children’s residential care institutions and nursing homes for the elderly. His main legislative proposals in Congress involved topics such as Penal Reform, moderation in the use of force and firearms by the police, restricting the use of shock therapy, civil rights of homosexuals, granting of amnesty for military deserters, and the ethical regulation of television programs.

His militancy in Human Rights earned him numerous honors, among them the first UNESCO Human Rights Prize in Brazil in 1999.

Mr Rolim studied Legislative Modernization in the U.S. and took a specialized course in Spain on Prison Policies and Mental Health. In 2003, and until March 2004, Mr Rolim lived in Oxford, England, where he conducted researched on the topic “Successful Experiences in Public Safety” at Oxford University. He was a lecturer at Mit Sweden University in Sweden on “Human Rights and Childhood”; at the University of Lecce in Italy on “Current Tendencies in Penal Law”; and at Oxford University, England, on “Public Safety Policies in Brazil” and “Penal Reform in Brazil: Limits and Possibilities”, and in Hanói, Vietnan, at the Nacional Assembly on “Parliament’s Role in Ensuring Child Protection. Based on the research that he did in the United Kingdom, Mr Rolim wrote the book “The Red Queen Syndrome: Policing and Public Safety in the XXI Century” (Zahar,2006). He is, also, the author of “Imitation of Politics” (Tchê Publishers), “Theses for a Humanistic Left” (Sulina Publishers), “Disarmament, Scientific Evidence” (DaCasa/Palmarinca Publishers), “More education, less violence” (UNESCO) e “Bullying: the school’s nightmare” (Dom Quixote).