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=> Topic: IPS:BRASIL-Indigenous people under siege
=> From: James Binder <jbinder@igc.org>
Copyright Inter Press Service 1993, all rights reserved. Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.
Title: BRAZIL: Indigenous people under siege by land grabbers
london, january 16 (ips/candy gourlay) -- brazil's indigenous
peoples are being abducted, tortured and killed for their land,
the human rights watchdog amnesty international says in a new
report.
amnesty accused brazilian officials of ''colluding'' with
perpetrators of such crimes by consistently failing to investigate
reports or bring the criminals to justice.
the report documents abuses against a range of brazil's
indigenous communities, from the macux in roraima to the uru-eu-
wau-wau of central rondonia.
most abuses catalogued were motivated by land disputes. ''as the
pressure for minerals and timber increases, indigenous groups
become more vulnerable to armed attack,'' amnesty says.
''these attacks are often carried out by private agents,
including gunmen hired by land claimants, timber merchants or
mining interests. they have gone almost entirely unpunished -- in
fact, state level authorities have even colluded with them.''
amnesty is careful to distance itself from the disputes
themselves, but points out ''the persistent failure of successive
governments to protect the fundamental human rights of brazil's
indigenous peoples''.
by failing to arbitrate promptly in disputes between indigenous
and non-indigenous peoples, the state has allowed violence to
escalate with impunity, the report says.
the reported abuses fly in the face of official brazilian
acknowledgement of the focal role land plays in the survival of
indigenous people. in 1991, the government itself coined the
slogan ''indian is land'' to signal its recognition of indigenous
land rights.
the 1988 constitution proclaims recognition of the indians'
''original land rights to the lands they traditionally occupy''
and pledge that these lands would be ''demarcated'' and
''protected''. the government indian agency 'funai' is charged
with the demarcation of the approximately 50 percent of indian
lands yet unprotected.
yet commercial pressures have made these same lands the target of
private agents who use violence to push aside their
occupants. ''in reality, most indian lands whether demarcated or
not are coveted for some form of development,'' the report says.
mineral concessions have been made on 58 percent of all
demarcated indian lands, while 13 percent are affected by hydro-
electric projects, according to a 1986 report by the ecumenical
centre for documentation and information (cedi) and the brazilian
national geologists association (conage). (more/ips)
brazil: indigenous people under siege by land grabbers(2-e)
official figures put brazil's indigenous population at 250,000,
divided into 180 different ethnic groups with 170 languages. the
groups range from populations of 20,000, such as the ticuna
indians, to groups as small as 10.
''the small size of these indigenous groups means that the loss
of life of a few of their members may have proportionately
devastating effect on their very survival,'' says the report,
which was written after six months of field research by an amnesty
task force.
now, whole communities are at risk as ''case after case'' of
reported human rights abuse against indigenous people go
unchallenged by brazilian authorities.
the report describes indigenous communities as ''in a state of
siege''. the report describes the situation of 35-five-year-old
damiao mendes, a macuxi indian, who was found lying face down on a
muddy river bank, shot in the neck. nearby lay his 19-year-old
nephew, mario davis, similarly slain.
opposition of local ranchers had stalled the demarcation of land
belonging to mendes' community of macuxi indians, a semi-nomadic
group whose ancestral lands lie on the plains of roraima. their
claim to the land has resulted in attacks by cattle ranchers, who
have so far succeeded in forcing many to abandon their traditional
territorial grasslands.
''the basic facts of this case are far from exceptional,'' the
report says. ''damiao mendes and mario davis were killed for land.
the investigation into the killing was cursory. no one has been
brought to justice. dozens of indians in brazil have been murdered
in similar circumstances.''
in some cases, police forces allegedly take part in unauthorised
raids on indian areas, subjecting men, women and children to
beatings and ill-treatment, the report says.
amnesty called for an ''end to impunity'', demanding that
authorities at all levels ensure that private bodies which have
contact with indigenous peoples fully respect their human rights.
should abuses occur, they must be promptly investigated and
perpetrators brought to justice, the report said.
amnesty also called for special care to ensure the safety of
''newly contacted'', previously isolated indigenous communities.
the ''speedy and just resolution'' of unresolved land conflicts
would massively reduce the incidence of human rights abuse against
indigenous people, the report says.
the report, published friday by amnesty's london-based
international secretariat, is the first to mark the united nations
international year of the world's indigenous peoples.
(end/ips/en/cg/mf/93)