Lucia Nader, executive director of Conectas, a Sao Paulo-based human rights group, said, "It is important in principle that President Rousseff meets with people who are claiming that the government is abusive and that violations are taking place."
Rousseff has tried to carve a different path on human rights. Yet while a few of her decisions have drawn a lot of media coverage, her foreign policy is not considered a significant break from that of her predecessor.
For example Brazil, at the time a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, abstained last November on a vote condemning Iran for human rights violations. It has done the same regarding Syria, together with India and South Africa.
Nader gives Rousseff's first-year foreign policy a "mixed assessment on human rights," citing what she believes is "a double standard on Iran" by supporting the creation of the special rapporteur but abstaining on the resolution condemning violations "even though the situation had not changed."
Brazilian officials, however, say that these positions are consistent with Brazil foreign policy traditions, such as non-intervention, consensus-building and cooperation.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, Human Rights Watch head Kenneth Roth criticized Brazil for its abstention on Syria.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota responded by saying that "abstention here is not abstaining from condemning violence against unarmed civilians or abstaining from siding with those who seek greater participation in the political process.
"On the contrary," he said, "abstention here is ensuring policy space for diplomacy, for negotiations, for dialogue and for progress that does not breed violence."
Brazil still believes that often these resolutions lead to military intervention and is fearful of another Iraq.
Brazil also believes that the current assessment of human rights is too selective and politically biased. Officials often point out that wealthy countries or U.S. allies are not scrutinized the same way for violations as a country such as Iran is.
Many activists share some of these views but still wish Brazil would do more.
"We also agree that the international community should speak out more about Saudi Arabia," Ghaemi said, citing an example that is often used. But "that is not a reason to cop out of taking positions on Iran or other countries."
(Sreeharsha is a McClatchy special correspondent.)
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