Quoting Bruno and Dom, locals condemn Brazil at the UN

For the first time since the confirmation of the murders of native Bruno Pereira and journalist Dom Phillips, the Brazilian government has been the target of a complaint at the UN, citing the incident in Vale do Javari (AM). Groups representing different indigenous peoples will warn that the crimes committed last week are part of the overall picture of executions against leaders.

Violence against indigenous peoples was highlighted in a joint statement submitted this Monday to the secretariat of the UN Human Rights Council, Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI), Brazilian Indigenous Peoples Articulation (APIB) and the National Movement for Human Rights (MNDH). lands.

The complaint was read in a video by Lunici de Almeida of the people of Guaraní-Kaiowá to UN freedom of association rapporteur Clément Nyaletossi Voule. The action is part of an attack by indigenous groups, human rights defenders and environmentalists against the government of Jair Bolsonaro.

As the UOL announced last week, the deaths of the two men in Vale do Javari were considered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs a “bomb” for the country’s international image. Diplomats warned that the new crisis has effectively “buried” any international effort by the government to gain acceptance among the democratic wings of the world.

The video containing the complaint about the lack of time at the meeting in Geneva was not shown to the other governments. But the warning is in the final material of the meeting and is just the first of several complaints that will be forwarded to the UN in the coming days. Unless the initiative leads to immediate action on behalf of the international community or foreign organisations, the aim is to increase the embarrassment of the Bolsonaro government abroad.

“Repurchases, a kind of indigenous protest to occupy our traditional lands, whether limited or not, are being suppressed with severe violence by the police,” the Indigenous leader said in material presented to the UN Human Rights Council.

“As a woman, my sisters and I have pioneered the restoration of our traditional lands,” she said. “The rural government tried to free our lands for non-native exploitation and we were violently deported in a completely illegal act,” said Lunici, in an action that also received support from the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL).

The leadership presented another murder case. “At this time, a young man from our village, Alex Lopes, was executed on a farm that occupied our territory,” he said. “The community, enraged by the persecution, has reclaimed the area and is at risk of evacuation,” he said.

He insisted on rejecting violence, citing the Bruno and Dom cases. “No to executions, torture, disappearances. It is our right to take back our land. We belong to the land and we will fight for it until the end,” he said.