Copyright 1993 InterPress Service, all rights reserved.
Worldwide distribution via the APC networks.
VENEZUELA: INDIGENOUS PARLIAMENT CONDEMNS YANOMAMI MASSACRE
caracas, sep 11 (ips) the indigenous parliament of america is to
hold an extraordinary session next week to discuss human rights
violations perpetrated against native peoples and condemn the
recent massacre of a group of yanomami indians, its leader
ember iguaran announced saturday.
meanhwile, the congress of amazon indians has asked venezuelan
president ramon velasquez to annul a decree which establishes an
official commission to investigate the yanomami massacre and
protect indigenous communities in the tropical forests of the
amazon.
the leader of the yanomami ''united shabonos organisation'' of
the upper orinoco, antonio guzman, said the official commission
ought to include indigenous representatives, especially yanomamis,
native legal representatives, the national guard and the church.
the caracas-based indgenous parliament, which is made up of
representatives from all countries of the contient, has demanded
that brazil's yanomami leader, david kopenawe, also participate
on the commission.
''as the presidential decree stands, it will never be possible
to get to the bottom of this crime,'' guzman said.
''it was misguided to appoint charles brewer as president of
the commission and north american anthropologist napoleon chagnon
as a member,'' said guzman, adding that both experts are rejected
by the indigenous parliament who consider them to be enemies of
the yanomami.
according to guzman, brewer is been investigated by the
authorities in connection with mining activities in the area,
while chagnon is rejected by all indigenous groups who accuse him
of exploiting the yanomamis and their lifestyle for his own
personal gain.
the murdered indians were allegedly killed by brazilian
'garimpeiros'' or gold prospectors who have been mining illegally
in yanomami territories in venezuela for the past five years.
venezuela is believed to have 10 percent of the world's gold
deposits.
iguaran urged the continent's indigenous groups to ''pledge
their political will to stop the systematic violation of
indigenousd people's rights and prevent crimes of this magnitude
being repeated.''
he added that the indigenous parliament will also demand that
the venezuelan government act energetically to find the
'garimpeiros' responsible for yanomami massacre.
on saturday, venezuela's national guard announced that on
wednesday its soliders had detained three illegal miners, two
brazilians and a colombian, near the country's southern border.
(ends/ips/trd-sp/caf/cs/cg)
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