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NEWS FROM BRAZIL supplied by SEJUP (Servico Brasileiro de Justica
e Paz).
Number 215, February 07, 1996.
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INDIGENOUS ISSUES
- Decree 1775 still draws widespread national and
international criticism.
Decree 1775 which was signed by President Fernando Henrique
Cardoso on January 08 last, facilitates the invasion and
contestation of indigenous lands by such groups as ranchers,
loggers, miners and other so-called 'interested' groups. Since
then the opposition of Brazilian and international human rights
groups to the Decree have been widespread. In recent editions of
NEWS FROM BRAZIL and of the newsletter of the Indigenous
Missionary Council (CIMI) found in this conference, this
opposition has been extensively described.
In recent days the Coalition in Support of Amazonian Peoples
- based in Washington and representing 80 environmental and human
rights groups, sent a strongly worded protest to President
Cardoso in which they urged him to revoke the Decree. The
Coalition counts amongst its members most of the well known US
environmental organizations such as the National Wildlife
Federation, the Environmental Defense Fund, the International
Rivers Network and the Serra Club. In the letter to President
Cardoso the Coalition claimed that the Decree "represents a huge
step backward which will likely lead to the violation of the
rights of indigenous peoples mandated by the Constitution of
1988...(and) will likely result in the escalation of conflicts
over land and natural resources which will threaten the survival
of indigenous populations in Brazil".
The Coalition plans to follow the example set by Brazilian
indigenous and human rights groups in recent weeks and is likely
to lobby multinational agencies funding development projects
linked to indigenous areas in Brazil asking them to withhold at
least temporarily, funding for such projects. Indigenous groups
in Brazil fear that such funds could be used against indian
interests. The Coalition also sent a copy of the letter to the US
government. The effectiveness of recent international lobbying on
this question can be measured by the fact that Brazilian Minister
for Justice, Nelson Jobim, plans to visit European countries in
March to put the government point of view to organizations,
government officials and the general public on this issue.
If Minister Jobim is interested in influencing international
opinion about the Decree, it seems as if he considers dialogue on
the question within Brazil unnecessary and even harmful.
According to a report in the "Folha de Sao Paulo" of February 06,
the minister during a public debate in the auditorium of the
Folha on February 05 stated that the government does not wish to
have dialogue with the NGOs who are criticizing the Decree. He
went on to say that such Brazilian organizations are making
'noise' in the international campaign to withold financing which
could be misused in the demarcation of the indigenous lands.
"These groups are not interested in solving the indigenous
problem. They are interested in creating problems and we will
have no dialogue with those who cause problems" commented
Minister Jobim.
On February 05, the Environment Commission of the Bar
(Lawyers) Association (OAB) of Sao Paulo approved a motion of
protest against the Decree which it plans to send to the
President, government ministers, ambassadors of G7 countries and
to the Interamerican Commission of Human Rights. The OAB also
decided to contest the constitutional validity of the Decree in
the courts.
A document of the Articulation Council of the Indigenous
Peoples and Organizations of Brazil (CAPOIB) of February 06
requests the World Bank and the G7 countries to suspend
temporarily grants which they plan to make to Brazil to be used
in the demarcation of indigenous lands. The document refers
specifically to the Indigenous Lands Project (Projeto Terras
Indigenas), Planofloro and Prodeagro. CAPOIB represents over a
hundred indigenous groups in Brazil.
The CAPOIB document claims that "since it took office over a
year ago, the government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso has been
putting in place a deliberate policy of reduction of indigenous
territories". It then goes on to document several examples of
where this policy has seriously affected indigenous groups since
the beginning of 1995.
The "Folha de Sao Paulo" of February 07 reports that within
the next week the World Bank plans to announce its position
regarding Decree 1775. According to the World Bank representative
in Brazil, Dennis Mahar, this announcement will influence the
decision of the Bank to give or to suspend grants of
approximately US $36 million destined for projects in indigenous
areas. According to Mr. Mahar the decision will also take into
account a study being made at the moment by the Bank's juridical
department in the US.
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