THE Brazilian government apologised on Thursday for human rights abuses in the persecution and imprisonment of Japanese immigrants in the years after World War II.

“I want to apologise on behalf of the Brazilian state for the persecution your ancestors suffered, for all the barbarities, atrocities, cruelties, tortures, prejudice, ignorance, xenophobia and racism,” said Enea de Stutz e Almeida, president of the Amnesty Commission.

The advisory board of Brazil’s Ministry of Human Rights that analyses amnesty and reparation requests to victims of political persecution in the country, approved the apology plea in a session in Brasilia attended by members of the Brazilian government and prominent members of the Japanese community.