Brazil & Southern Cone - September 2017 (ISSN 1741-4431)

Brazilian police are investigating the murder, dubbed “genocide” by one indigenous leader, of ten indigenous people from the ‘flecheiros’ (‘arrow-slinging’) tribe by illegal gold miners operating the country’s Amazonas state. Such reports have increased pressure on the government not to abandon the country’s indigenous communities at a time when organised criminals are encroaching on their territory.

Police located the corpses of the ‘flecheiros’ near the winding Jandiatuba and Juctaí rivers in the Vale do Javari natural reserve in Amazonas state, close to the border with Peru. Authorities later received a tip-off that the suspected perpetrators had been taped boasting about killing the indigenous community members over drinks at a bar in in the Amazonas municipality of São Paulo de Olivença. The national indigenous foundation (Funai), the federal agency tasked with defending indigenous rights, has since lodged a complaint with the Amazonas prosecutors’ office (MPF-AM) demanding the alleged murderers be brought to justice. Authorities have kept most details about the case secret so as not to jeopardise the progress of ongoing investigations. But they told Brazilian news site G1 that police had detained an unspecified number of suspects in the city of Tabatinga, Amazonas for questioning.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. The MPF-AM is working on a second suspected murder case involving members of the indigenous Warikama Djamar tribe, who were allegedly killed by a local agricultural producer in May. Indigenous leader Adelson Kora Kanamari told local NGO Amazônia Real that between 18 and 21 indigenous people had been assassinated, including some children. This incident also took place in the Vale do Javari area, which spans 85,444.82 km², approximately the size of Austria, and is home to the largest number of indigenous tribes in Brazil. However, it is becoming difficult to track crimes in the area let alone find out about them. Many of the tribes living there are uncontacted (indigenous groups who have not had contact with modern society), meaning they are difficult to pin down. Moreover, budget cuts have forced the local authorities to wind down surveillance operations.

In the wake of these cases, human rights groups called on the federal government to fulfil its constitutional obligation to protect indigenous peoples and their rights. “If these cases are confirmed, President [Michel] Temer and his government bear a huge responsibility for the genocide,” Kanamari told national weekly Veja. “These territories have been recognised and demarcated [as indigenous lands] for years [since 2001],” Kanamari added.

President Temer’s commitment to protecting both the environment and indigenous rights has come under international scrutiny of late. In August, Temer was forced to stand down over a plan to open up an Amazonian reserve, Renca, inhabited by indigenous people straddling the northern states of Amapá and Pará to mining exploration. Temer approved the plan via presidential decree but was later overruled by a federal court, marking a victory for environmental activists.

In another move which has angered human rights groups, the Temer government has cut Funai’s budget by 44%. In July, former Funai head, Antonio Costa, said this was a sign that the agency was being dismantled. As a result of the cuts, Funai now runs fewer protection stations in areas like Vale do Javari, with fewer staff and scarce resources, according to a statement from the indigenous council (Cimi). In this way, the budget cuts have eroded indigenous rights, argues Stephen Corry, head of NGO Survival International. “This has left dozens of isolated tribes defenceless against thousands of invaders – illegal miners, landowners and loggers,” Corry said.

• Supreme court rules in favour of indigenous rights

On 16 August, Brazil’s supreme court (STF) ruled that indigenous people have a right to occupy their historic territory – which had been disputed by the Mato Grosso state government. STF justices voted unanimously to dismiss a complaint filed by the Mato Grosso state government challenging the historical demarcation of land for indigenous people. The case is of national relevance, strengthening indigenous rights at a time when violence against Brazil’s indigenous peoples is on the rise.