This article presents two thesis about the National Acion Program for Human Rights in Brasil. The Program strenghened a new conception of human rights in Brazil, as a set of universal and indissociable civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, which are embodied not only in national constitutions and laws but also in international instruments ratified by the National Congress. It is not possible to measure the increase in the respect for human rights, but there has been a reduction in the degree of tolerance regarding the problems of impunity and human rights violations in Brazil since the announcement of the Program. The article analyses the implementation of the Program from May 1996 to May 1997, focusing on the dilemmas and perspectives of the implementation process.
