Brazil has been warned on different occasions by the UN (United Nations) about the violence in the Javari Valley region, where British Dom Phillips and Brazilian native Bruno Pereira went missing this week.
In two communiqués of 2017 and 2020, international organizations condemned the unnecessary invasions and urged the Brazilian state to take action. The UN also warned that it is the state’s responsibility to ensure the safety of indigenous people and other social actors in the region.
In recent months, the indigenous question has become the target of constant questioning by the UN, condemning the actions of the Brazilian government.
However, one of the warnings, specifically about Vale do Javari, was issued five years ago. At the time, the IACHR (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights) and the South America Regional Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed their “concern” at the near-peak massacre of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation. On the banks of the Jandiatuba River, in the Vale do Javari Indigenous Land.
At that time, international organizations asked Brazil to implement “immediate measures to carry out actions to detect and monitor the territorial movements of peoples on indigenous soils, in access control, constant surveillance and isolation.” The aim will be “voluntary isolation and protecting first-contact indigenous communities and their lands and territories from attacks or acts of violence by third parties”.
IACHR and the UN also asked the country “to take measures to prevent and respond to illegal mining, agriculture, hunting, fishing and illegal logging on indigenous lands under analysis”. Recognizing the military’s role in combating the presence of illegal miners on the Jandiatuba River, the party pressed for expansion of efforts.
The entity also highlights in 2017 that the Vale do Javari region “has the largest presence of non-contact indigenous people in the world, and this requires the diligent effort of the State of Brazil to adopt appropriate policies and measures to recognize, respect and protect the land”. , the lands, environments and cultures of these peoples and their lives and their individual and collective integrity”.
The IACHR and the UN noted “concerned that the region now faces a context characterized by voluntary isolation in the Javari Valley region and an increase in attacks and acts of violence against first-contact communities”.
According to information received by the two agencies, the massacre was “just one of numerous reports of attacks and assaults by indigenous communities in voluntary isolation and initial contact in the region by illegal miners, farmers and loggers against indigenous peoples.”
At that time, institutions drew attention to the suspension of activities of Funai (National Indian Foundation) BPE (Ethno-environmental Protection Base). The base, located on the Jandiatuba River, provided protection to isolated indigenous peoples in the Amazon, and the suspension has left “communities in voluntary isolation and first contact in the event of a third-party vulnerability.”
State responsibility
At the time, the UN warned that the state had “a special obligation to protect and respect the rights of voluntary isolation and first contact communities due to their particular vulnerability”. This obligation was part of a number of international documents and agreements.
In 2017, international organizations claim that the Brazilian government responded by reporting that miners suspected of involvement in the attacks were detained and taken to testify. However, both the commission and the UN wanted the results of the investigation to be presented.
The IACHR and UN also insisted that the duty to protect was “emphasized in administratively delimited indigenous lands for the voluntary isolation and protection of indigenous communities at first contact, such as the Vale do Javari Indigenous Lands”.
In response, the Commission and the UN recall that States must take expressly urgent measures of action aimed at avoiding voluntary isolation on Indigenous lands and first contact in the Vale do Javari Indigenous Territory,” he said. adds.
Three years later, the situation in the area where Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira disappeared has once again received international attention.
In a report, the Inter-American Commission noted that “it has received reports that evangelical missionaries continue to make unauthorized visits to populations in self-isolation in Vale do Javari, Amazonas, Brazil, in violation of the legal provisions and guidelines of the National Indian Foundation.” (FUNAI) that country”.
source: Noticias
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