Number 425, November 10, 2000.
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In this week's issue:
>NEWS BRIEFS
- 15,000 participate in peace rally in Sao Paulo
- Conflict between Military Police and homeless leaves 12 injured
- Gunmen attempt to evict Pataxos from their reservation
- Rigoberta Menchu condemns Cardoso’s attitude toward the MST
>INDIGENOUS ISSUES
- Decisions of federal judges harm indigenous peoples
NEWS BRIEFS
- 15,000 participate in peace rally in Sao Paulo
Over 15,000 people participated in a peace rally in Jardim Angela in the southern zone of Sao Paulo. The neighborhood holds the record for the number of homicides. The objective of the rally was to "call the attention of authorities to a region abandoned by the public powers," explained Jaime Crowe, a coordinator of the event. Participants used white shirts and bands and wore names of those murdered in the neighborhood. Nearly 230 entities were involved, included churches, schools and neighborhood associations. The event ended in an ecumenical prayer service.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo
November 3, 2000
- Conflict between Military Police and homeless leaves 12 injured
A conflict between the Military Police of the state of Tocantins and a group of homeless left 12 homeless persons injured. The police arrived on the scene with orders from the state to evict 2,200 members of the MNLM (the National Movement for the Struggle for Housing) who had been occupying state land. Members of the movement resisted the police who then threw tear-gas and shot rubber bullets into the crowd. The twelve injured were taken to the hospital. "Instead of humiliating us, the government should negotiate because no one here has any place to go," said Mismarque Miranda, a leader of the movement.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo
November 4, 2000
- Gunmen attempt to evict Pataxos from their reservation
A group of hired gunmen tried to evict an indigenous group, the Pataxos, off of their reservation in Corumbauzinho in the state of Bahia. Last Thursday, 15 armed men invaded the area, which was recently ceded to the Pataxos, and presented themselves as security officers for a local rancher who wants the indigenous off the land. When questioned if they had a judicial order, the group said they didn’t need one because "things are resolved with a bullet." The Pataxos announced that they would not leave and have asked the Federal Police to intervene and disarm the militia.
Source: Linha Aberta
November 6, 2000
- Rigoberta Menchu condemns Cardoso’s attitude toward the MST
Nobel Peace Prize winner, Guatemalan Rigoberta Menchu, wrote to the Cardoso government this past week condemning its actions against the MST (Movement of rural workers Without Land). Recently, President Fernando Henrique Cardoso and his government have stepped up their persecution of the movement, arresting and prosecuting 180 leaders of the movement. The government has also restricted credit to small farmers, thereby keeping more than 250,000 families in misery. The FHC government has also heard from Noam Chomsky, a professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and FIAN (Foodfirst Information and Action Network), both condemning actions against the MST.
Source: MST on line
November 7, 2000
INDIGENOUS ISSUES
- Decisions of federal judges harm indigenous peoples
In the last two weeks, three federal judges issued preliminary orders (judicial decisions that are to remain effective until a final ruling is issued for proceedings) in connection with Repossession Actions to evict indigenous communities from areas they had the right to reoccupy. In defiance of a constitutional provision that ensures the right of indigenous people to the permanent possession of lands traditionally occupied by them, judicial decisions have been often issued to ensure provisional possession rights to invaders of these lands, which is an act of violence against indigenous people. Indigenous communities live in constant tension in indigenous areas, since judicial orders are violently implemented by the military police, as was the case with the Guarani of the Araça’í indigenous area in Saudades, west of the state of Santa Catarina, on October 19. Two other rulings have been issued against the Kaiová de Arroyo Corá indigenous community, in the municipality of Paranhos, state of Mato Grosso do Sul, and against the Xukuru, in Pesqueira, state of Pernambuco, but so far they have not been implemented. "These eviction notices constitute acts of violence of the Judiciary Branch against indigenous people," says Saulo Feitosa, Cimi’s vice-chairman.
In paragraph 6 of article 231, the Federal Constitution acknowledges that "acts with a view to occupation, domain and possession (of lands traditionally occupied by indigenous people) are null and void…" However, many judges have taken into consideration title deeds to these lands in their decisions. In these three cases, the judges have inverted the situation when they considered that the indigenous people concerned were "invaders" of the land, disregarding the fact they had original rights over them.
"The preliminary orders constitute an act of violence in themselves. The one issued against the Xukuru, for example, is an aberration," says Feitosa. In this case, judge Ubiratan de Couto Marinho recognizes that invader Marcelo Cavalcanti de Araújo never owned the land he claims as his, but he preferred to rule in his favor anyway. The Xukuru land was demarcated in 1995. Part of the land was purchased by the farmer in December of last year and registered in April of this year. The title deed was bought from another invader. In order to provide legal grounds for his ruling in favor of the complainant, judge Ubiratan referred to a thesis according to which three types of ownership have to be taken into account in situations such as the one in question.
The president of the Republic should have ratified the bounds of this land already. Without the legalization of the land and the withdrawal of all invaders, problems will continue. The indigenous people were informed that the territory was being negotiated and decided to block any access to it by third parties in January of this year in order to prevent the completion of the transaction. This was the action that gave rise to the preliminary order.
In Araça’í, state of Santa Catarina, judge João Batista Lazzari ruled in favor of businessman Francisco Zimmer, whose family bought the indigenous area from a corporation called Terra Sul in the 1920s as part of a settlement project that was being implemented in the region then. A court determined that the Guarani were to be evicted from the area, despite the fact that a Technical Working Group has been set up to study how traditional the area is for them. Zimmer is supported by farmers of all the region around Saudades and he has established an anti-indigenous movement with the help from the mayor of the city, Arno Schwendler. The Guarani were violently evicted from their area by a group made up of federal and military police officers and firemen and thrown like animals in the Nonoai area, the land of the Kaingang in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The borders are under surveillance and drivers are forced not to help the Guarani.
In the Arroyo Corá traditional territory, in Paranhos, state of Mato Grosso do Sul, the Guarani, who were evicted from their territory on previous occasions, refuse to leave the area in compliance with a preliminary order issued by judge Odilon de Oliveira in favor of farmer Yoshie Osaku. The climate in the region is tense. The Arroyo Corá territory was reoccupied by the Kaiová on 15 September 1999, in their second attempt to take possession of their traditional territory. In 1983, they were expelled by farmers and in 1998 Funai itself removed them from the land. The two last reoccupation actions were a means to protest against the sluggishness of Funai to set up a Working Group to legalize the bounds of the indigenous territory. Like in Araça’í, the Kaiová face a movement organized by farmers and businesspersons who have been inciting the population to use violence against them.
On 5 August 2000, two indigenous people of the Arroyo Corá traditional area were shot by individuals who were working for one of the farmers of the region. The Guarani held the man who shot the gun, but he was not arrested by the police. Months before that incident, the Potrero Guasu indigenous community was attacked and ambushed by about 15 armed gunmen in the same region. The females were raped in front of their husbands and children and their homes were burned down. The farmers blocked the road leading to the community in order to prevent the Guarani from helping them. So far, nothing has been done to legalize the bounds of the area or to punish the guilty ones.
The preliminary orders for repossession have enhanced conflicts. Judges have been ruling against the reoccupation of areas by indigenous people because they don’t recognize their original rights over lands traditionally occupied by them, as provided for in the Constitution. In some cases, like when judge João Batista Lazzari ruled against the Guarani of Araça’í, they link indigenous territorial rights to the demarcation procedure, which begins when a Technical Group (GT) is set up for this purpose. This interpretation is ungrounded, because the original rights of indigenous populations precede and do not depend on this administrative act. In regions where land ownership is more concentrated, in most cases the GTs are set up only after reoccupation actions take place. The most serious conflicts between indigenous people and invaders are taking place in the Northeast, South and Mid-West regions.
The preliminary orders issued by the judges show that they favor private interests more than those of indigenous people and more than the need to protect the assets of the Union.
Agencies that support the rights of indigenous people have been appealing against these measures. In the case of Araça’í, the Public Prosecution Service requested an habeas corpus for the indigenous people to be allowed to circulate freely between the two states. The Office of the Attorney General and Cimi have also filed an interlocutory appeal for the decision issued by judge Odilon de Oliveira in connection with the Xukuru case to be reviewed. In the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Funai filed the same kind of appeal to prevent the Kaoivá from being evicted from the Arroyo Corá indigenous area.
Source: Indianist Missionary Council - Cimi
October 26, 2000
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