For the fifth consecutive year, the Indianist Missionary Council
(CIMI), an agency linked to CNBB (National Conference of Bishops of
Brazil), made a survey of acts of violence against Indian peoples
in Brazil. The figures are at once scary and outraging. In 1992, the
Indians suffered as much aggression as in previous years; in some
cases even more.
The survey showed that 24 Indians were murdered in 1992, two less
than last year. Most of these murders, precisely 17, were committed in
the Legal Amazonia region, where most violent acts against Indians have
been registered. Four were committed in the South region, and three in
the Northeast. Although police investigations were carried out in
connection with several cases, none of the aggressors was actually
punished.
CIMI also registered sixteen attempts on the lives of at least 20
Indians, against nine last year. There were also sixteen death threats
against at least twenty Indians, while in 1991 the number of such
cases amounted to fourteen. Most of these aggressive acts were due to
the interest of invaders in Indian lands and their riches.
In 1992, suicides continued to occur particularly among the
Guarani Kaiowa Indians in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul. There were
24 deaths altogether: twenty among the Kaiowa, one among the Terena,
and thre among the Yanomami Indians. The latter three have not been
confirmed so far, but there is enough evidence to raise strong
suspicions that thei were suicides.
The healt situation of the Indians is also worrying. Diseases
have beem killing more Indians in the Country than any other type of
aggression. It seems that they are the subtlest and most disguised way
to exterminate Indians.
At least seven female Indians were raped last year. Other rapes
occurred in the Alto Rio Negro region, on the border between Brazil and
Colombia, but the precise number of these cases is not known. Several
female Indians were raped in that region by soldiers of the 5th Special
Border Battalion, but they were not denounced, as the women fear
reprisals. None of the aggressors was punished.
Invasions of Indian lands by timber companies were also surveyed.
The illegal removal of hardwood from 37 areas, almost all of which
located in the Legal Amazonia region, was registered. In the States of
Rondtnia and Mato Grosso, some woodcutters have been giving cacaine to
the Cinta Larga and Surum Indians, so as to make them addicted to the
drug and then offer it to them in exchange for wood.
For as long as there is no policy to eliminate the causes of such
huge aggression, the Indians will continue to face gloomy prospects and
live under permanent violence.
VIOLENCE AGAINST INDIAN PEOPLES IN BRAZIL IN 1992
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Murders.............................................24
Victims of attempts on the lives....................20
Death threats.......................................21
Illegal detentions...................................5
Victims of physical aggression......................10
Rapes................................................7
Suicides............................................24
Deaths due to malaria...............................87
Deaths due to measles...............................64
Deaths due to cholera...............................14
Judicial decisions againts Indian interests..........5
Deaths in car accidents..............................6
Areas invaded by woodcutters....................... 37
Invasions of miners.................................16
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Brasmlia, March 5th, 1993
CIMI - Indianist Missionary Council