Documento - Brazil: Fear for safety

Federal police agents visited the reservation in the aftermath of the violence, but left soon after. When activists working for the local NGO, the Conselho Indigenista Missionário, (Indigenous Missionary Council, CIMI) visited the reservation on 17 October, they found the community in a state of fear, abandoned by the authorities. Some had fled to the nearest town; one woman was so scared that she hid in the forest for two days with her newborn child. They reported there were no representatives from FUNAI, and that no measures had been taken to protect the community.

The killing was reportedly in revenge against indigenous resistance to illegal logging in the region. At the beginning of September, after a long but fruitless campaign to get the authorities to act against repeated incursions from the loggers, the Guajajara seized a logging truck that was illegally passing through the indigenous reservation. When the loggers offered money for the return of the vehicle, the indigenous community refused to negotiate, informing FUNAI of the situation, but as tension escalated, the authorities did not intervene.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The reservation of Araribóia, one of the oldest indigenous reservations in Brazil, covers an area of 413 thousand hectares across six municipalities of Maranhão state. Since the beginning of the 1980s, the region has been subject to repeated incursions from illegal loggers. The invasions have created violent conflict with indigenous peoples and widespread environmental damage, including deforestation, forest fires and water drainage. Ninety per cent of Guajajara land is now affected by logging, hunting and land invasions, threatening indigenous livelihoods. With little to no state presence, the loggers have been free to act with impunity, buying off some of the indigenous people to divide communities. The Guajajara have been campaigning to for the redefinition of their lands, the protection of the reservation’s borders and the expulsion of illegal settlers.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Portuguese or your own language:
- expressing concern for the safety of Guajajara families in the settlement of Lagoa Cumprida in Maranhão state who are under threat of imminent violence;
- calling on the authorities to guarantee the security of these families, according to their wishes;
- urging that the killing of Tomé Guajajara and the threats against the Guajajara be fully and transparently investigated and those responsible for carrying out or ordering these attacks be brought to justice;
- expressing your concern at the continuing pattern of harassment and intimidation and land degradation by illegal loggers;
- urging the authorities to fulfil their constitutional and international obligations to maintain the integrity of the Araribóia reservation, expelling illegal settlers and preventing further land degradation.
- requesting a state presence and the provision of basic services for the Guajajara and other indigenous groups, to make their lives on the reservation viable.

APPEALS TO:

President of FUNAI (Government Agency for Indigenous People)

Exmo. Sr. Presidente Márcio Meira

SEPS Quadra 902/702 - Bloco. A

Ed. Lex - 3º Andar

70340-904 - Brasília – DF, Brasil

Fax: + 55 61 3226 8782

Salutation: Exmo. Sr Presidente

Governor of Maranhão State
Exmo. Sr. Jackson Lago
Palácio dos Leões,
Avenida Pedro Segundo,
s/n Centro 65010-904
São Luís /MA
Salutation: Exmo. Sr. Governador

COPIES TO:
Federal Human Rights Secretary
Secretaria Especial de Direitos Humanos
Exmo. Secretário Especial
Sr. Paulo de Tarso Vannuchi
Esplanada dos Ministérios - Bloco "T" - 4º andar, 70.064-900 - Brasília/DF – Brasil
Fax: + 55 61 3226 7980

Local NGO
Conselho Indigenista Missionário, (CIMI)
Rosimeire de Jesus Diniz Santos
Rua do Pespontão,
99 - Centro
São Luis - MA - CEP 65010-460

and to diplomatic representatives of Brazil accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 4 December 2007.********



Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street, WC1X 0DW, London, United Kingdom