Indian Ge'rson de Souza Lima, vice-chief of the Pataxo' Ha~-Ha~-Ha~e, was
abducted this week by farmers and illegally arrested under charges of
carrying a gun without a licence and of having let it off. Ge'rson is one of
the main leaders of the Pataxo' Ha~-Ha~-Ha~e, who live in the
Paraguassu-Caramuru Indian Area, in the state of Bahia, Brazilian Northeast
region. The farmers are invaders of the traditional territory which the
Indians recovered late last year but from where they were expelled by the
Military Police.
Ge'rson de Souza Lima was abducted when he was being taken in a truck
to the city of Camacan, where he would be hospitalized due to health
problems; 15 other Indians were accompanying him. The truck was stopped on
its way by three cars with ten men armed with machine-guns and rifles who
forced him to get off the truck. The farmers took him to the Police Station
of the city of Pau Brasil, where he was arrested by an officer and a
sargeant of the Military Police.
The vice-chief was then taken to the Police Station of Camacan, a
municipality next to Pau Brasil, where the officer in charge interrogated
him in the presence of the farmers. None of the Indians who witnessed the
abduction was heard by the officer, not even the Funai (National Indian
Foundation) official who was driving the truck. The Pataxo' had to be
taken to the hospital to be seen by a doctor and was then brought back to
the police station, where he remains in prison.
Since last year, when the Pataxo' Ha~-Ha~-Ha~e tried to recover their
lands, the climate is tense in the region. Last Monday, the vice-chief had
an argument with some farmers and shot into the air from a truck. He was
arrested by military policemen and taken to the Police Station of Pau
Brasil. His gun was seized, he was released and a formal investigation
began.
By abducting the Pataxo', the farmers intended to forge a crime for
which he had been arrested the previous day. The Police, in turn, connived
at the action of the farmers, because they agreed to arrest the vice-chief
in spite of his abduction. Even if the arrest were legal, the police officer
should have granted him bail, which he refused to do. Therefore, the
arrest of Ge'rson de Souza Lima is an abuse of authority. Several Indians
are awaiting the release of the vice-chief at the Police Station.
Brasi'lia, July 14th, 1994
CIMI - Indianist Missionary Council