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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
Brazilian Government Reneges on Indigenous Rights
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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
2/16/96
***Ecological Enterprises Action Alert***
BRAZILIAN GOVERNMENT RENEGES ON INDIGENOUS RIGHTS
Encourage The World Bank to Review Its Lending Policies
***Your Letter Needed***
In less than two weeks, the World Bank will take a position on Decree
1,775/96, a policy deliberately adopted by the Brazilian government which
would legally permit developers and settlers to invade demarcated indigenous
territories in many areas of the Amazon. The intent of the Decree is to
weaken seriously the protection of indigenous territorial rights guaranteed
in the Brazilian Constitution. In a February 6 meeting, representatives of
the Council for the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples and Organizations of
Brazil (CAPOIB) urged the World Bank to pressure the Brazilian government to
abandon its new policy by withholding development funding.
Earlier on February 5, the Environment Commission of the Brazilian BAR
Association, Sao Paulo Division, approved a motion rejecting Decree 1,775
and requested a revocation of the decree from the Office of the Attorney
General. The lawyers' document was also submitted to the President of the
Republic, the minister of Justice, the ambassadors of the G-7 countries and
to the Interamerican Human Rights Committee.
Dennis Mahar, a representative of the World Bank in Brazil, announced that
the institution would take into account the warnings of CAPOIB: "with the
publication of Decree 1,775/96, the federal administration is clearly
forsaking its constitutional duty to demarcate indigenous lands...
demarcations are not being determined by indigenous rights, but rather by
the alleged right of third parties and public powers to contest them."
***Body of Sample Letter***
Mr. Lewis T. Preston President World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, DC
20433
Dear Mr. Preston,
I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the intention of the
Government of Brazil to weaken the territorial rights of indigenous
peoples. The result of Decree 1,775 will be to accelerate the invasion and
occupation of legitimately designated indigenous territories by forces less
concerned with conservation than they are with exploitation. By undermining
indigenous property rights, Decree 1,775 will promote the destruction of
biological and cultural diversity which the indigenous lands currently
sustain.
I urge you to oppose Decree 1,775 and to advocate the rights and interests
of the indigenous peoples of Brazil. Use your economic leverage to ensure
the territorial integrity of demarcated indigenous lands. Bank lending
policies must be reviewed, and support of unsustainable resource extraction
stopped. Please support the Motion against the Decree approved by the
Environment Commission of the Brazilian BAR Association to revoke or annul
Decree 1,775. Thank you very much for your attention.
Sincerely,
***Other Resources on Current Situation in Brazil &
The World Bank's Role in Financing Rainforest Destruction***
*Rainforest Action Network:
http://www.ran.org/ran/ran_campaigns/world_bank/index.html
*Gaia Forest Archives:
http://gaia1.ies.wisc.edu/research/pngfores/actalert/bracomin.html
gopher://gaia1.ies.wisc.edu:70/11/research/wforests/brazil
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