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NEWS FROM BRAZIL supplied by AGEN (Agencia Ecumenica de Noticias)
and Servico Brasileiro de Justica e Paz.
Number 102, October 28, 1993
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INDIGENOUS ISSUES
- Military Police and Army Assault Indians and Missionaries
in Amazon Region.
The Catholic Church's Indigenous Missionary Council CIMI)
reported last week that a group of Makuxi indians and
missionaries were assaulted by Military Police officers in the
state of Roraima earlier this month.
According to CIMI, "six Military Police stopped a car
carrying a religious sister, a Makuxi couple, and the couple's
two children. The Makuxi were forced to remove their clothes and
were searched by the soldiers. The women were taken to a bar
where, naked, they were searched by the female barkeeper."
Two weeks before this assault, Father Giorgio Dal Ben and
Sobral Andre, a Makuxi teacher, were stopped by soldiers. CIMI
reported that the car the two were driving in "was cut off by
three vehicles occupied by six men who identified themselves as
Army soldiers. One of them shouted to Father Dal Ben to show his
documents. They searched the car and, in a violent manner, Dal
Ben and Sobral Andre. A letter that was found in the car,
addressed to another missionary, was open, read, and transcribed
by one of the soldiers."
The Diocese of Roraima stated that this assault was committed
by a paramilitary group using the name of the Army to intimidate
the priest and the Makuxi teacher. "It is not allowable for acts
like these to continue. These are illegal actions which harm the
dignity of the indians and the missionaries."
- Military Exercises in Indigenous Area.
The Armed Forces held military exercises earlier this month
in the Raposa/Serra do Sol Indigenous Area, which is inhabited by
the Makuxi, Wapixana, Taurepang and Ingariko peoples. Five
thousand soldiers simulated a war against an imaginary enemy.
General Jose Sampai Maia, the commander of the operation, said
the goal was to show the armed potential of Brazil. During the
exercises, the indians were prevented from leaving their homes.
The Raposa/Serra do Sol area, on the Brazil-Venezuela border,
has had its demarcation process stopped due to political and
military pressures. For the military, demarcation would put the
sovereignty of Brazil at risk, because the indians could claim
their independence. However, the Constitution states that
indigenous territories are part of the Union.
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