Brazilian ambassador in Mali accused of moral harassment

Employees of the Brazilian Embassy in Mali, West Africa, accused Ambassador Carlos Eduardo de Ribas Guedes of moral harassment of a character “slave”. The letter accusing the ambassador was sent to the country’s Ministry of Labor.

According to the document, embassy employees have been victims of harassment for 2 years. In addition to moral harassment, the text talks about “inhuman and degrading gestures and comments that attack the honor and dignity and acts of a slave nature” by Ribas Guedes.

The letter also states that the Brazilian government had already been informed of the situation and that, for this reason, it dispatched an inspection mission to Bamako, the capital of Mali, in October 2022 to listen to all embassy officials. In November, according to the document, an administrative disciplinary process was opened.

In the testimonies collected, it was reported that the ambassador even asked the employees to kneel before him, in addition to having already called one of the employees to “out” for a matter related to the organization of your schedule.

According to the text, Ribas Guedes also refused to allow one of the embassy drivers to provide hospital care to his sick teenage daughter, who later died, on the grounds that this was not provided for in labor legislation.

To the Poder360the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the opening of the administrative disciplinary process.

In a note, Itamaraty stated that the ambassador will be monitored for 2 years and pledged to “not break any law”. If the episodes are repeated again, Ribas Guedes will have to face yet another administrative process, which will consider previous facts such as “aggravating”.

Here is the full text of the note sent by Itamaraty on February 14, 2023, at 5:59 pm:

“Ambassador Carlos Eduardo de Ribas Guedes was investigated within the scope of administrative disciplinary proceedings, the result of which was the signing of a TAC (Term of Adjustment of Conduct), as directed by the CGU.

“The investigation carried out by the Itamaraty was based on accusations of moral harassment, conduct incompatible with administrative morality, non-compliance with legal and regulatory norms and lack of courtesy in the department.

“According to the signed TAC, the server will be monitored for two years and undertakes not to infringe any law. In case of recurrence, the server will be subject to immediate disciplinary administrative proceedings that will consider past facts as aggravating factors”.