Tamires Gomes Sampaio Oittica is a Brazilian attorney, public security expert, currently serving as a Special Advisor to the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil. Her career is dedicated to advancing public security, racial justice, and human rights through strategic policy, legal scholarship, and political engagement.
Academic Foundation and Specialized Training
Tamires holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Political and Economic Law and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, Brazil. Her academic work, recognized with prestigious awards, critically examines the intersections of criminal policy, racialization, and citizenship, with her master’s thesis focusing on the “Hidden Code: Criminal Policy, the Process of Racialization, and Obstacles to Citizenship for the Black Population in Brazil.”
In 2019, Tamires expanded her expertise in human rights and atrocity prevention by completing the Genocide and Human Rights University Program, an 80-hour specialized course offered by the Zoryan Institute in collaboration with the University of Toronto. This rigorous program on genocide studies and international human rights law has informed her scholarly and practical approach to addressing structural violence.
Professional Leadership and Public Service
Tamires possesses extensive experience in high-level government roles, shaping national policy from a perspective centered on citizenship and human rights. Her recent positions include:
Scholarly Contributions and Public Intellectual
An accomplished author, Tamires has published extensively on racism, genocide, and public security. Her seminal book, “Código Oculto” (2020), and numerous book chapters—such as “Organização do poder para produção da morte: É possível falar em genocídio da população negra no Brasil?” (2024)—establish her as a leading voice in debates on structural racism and state violence in Brazil. Her work consistently frames the systemic violence against the Black population through the lens of genocide studies, a field she engaged with deeply during her studies with the Zoryan Institute.
Political and Civic Engagement
Tamires’s commitment to social transformation is also reflected in her political activism. She has been a candidate for public office with the Workers’ Party (PT), mobilizing significant support around platforms of anti-racism and social justice. Her leadership roots are in student movements, having served as President of the Mackenzie Law Student Union and Vice President of the National Union of Students of Brazil (UNE). She is also a former Director and current Councilor of the Lula Institute.
Recognition
Her impactful work has been honored with awards including the Commander of the Order of Rio Branco from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2023) and a human rights laureate from the Brazilian Bar Association (2023), among others.
As an alumna of the Zoryan Institute’s Genocide and Human Rights Program, Tamires Gomes Sampaio Oitica exemplifies the application of rigorous academic study to the frontline challenges of promoting justice, preventing violence, and defending human rights in one of the world’s largest democracies.
I have been researching the genocide of the black population in Brazil since I graduated and during my master’s degree I had the opportunity to take the course on genocide and human rights at the Zoryan Institute. The knowledge acquired in this course was fundamental for my academic and professional training.
