SAO PAULO, March 25, (AP): Brazil’s government on Monday apologized to families of victims of the country’s military dictatorship whose remains could be among those found in a clandestine mass grave 35 years ago. Dozens of families are still waiting to know whether their parents, children, siblings and friends are in one of more than 1,000 blue bags discovered in 1990 in a ditch in a São Paulo cemetery in the isolated district of Perus.

That was the first of many mass graves uncovered by Brazil’s authorities after the end of the 21-year military rule in 1985. The clandestine grave at the Dom Bosco cemetery also contained remains of several unidentified people who were not linked to the fight against Brazil’s dictatorship. The official apology is part of a deal between prosecutors, family members and the State.

It took place during Right to Truth Day, which is also celebrated in other countries. Human Rights Minister Macaé Evaristo said the Brazilian State was neglectful in the identification process of the bags and bones found in Perus. For almost 25 years, the remains were held by three state universities and laboratories outside Brazil, but only a handful of families finally had their loved ones identified.

Evaristo said Brazil’s government has invested about 200,000 Brazilian reais ($35,000) each year for the identification of bags from Perus, but agreed that is not enough to give peace to families of victims. "What the Brazilian government has been doing is continuing the process of seeking investigation and accountability.

We need to remember that our ministry was dismantled,” Evaristo said, in a reference to the 2019-22 presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, an advocate of the country’s military dictatorship. "Families have the right to the truth. Brazilian society has the right to the truth.” Families uncertain if their loved ones’ remains were in the Perus mass grave attended the ceremony. Gilberto Molina, who represented them, had his brother Flávio's remains finally identified in one of the bags in 2005.