Newsletter No. 629
RAPOSA SERRA DO SOL: STF UPHOLDS COURT ORDER OPPOSING DEMARCATION IN A CONTINUOUS AREA
In a unanimous decision taken yesterday (1 September), the full session of the Federal Supreme Court turned down the granting of an appeal by the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) opposing a decision by the Minister Ellen Gracie. She had, on the 1 July, rejected the MPF’s request to suspend the effects of the court order issued on 4 March by the Federal Court of Roraima opposing the demarcation of the Raposa/Serra do Sol indigenous land.
The court order was granted by the federal judge Helder Girão Barreto, in the records of the Class Action brought by Silvino Lopes da Silva, which partially suspended the effects of Government Decree No. 820/98, issued by the Minister of Justice. This had defined the land traditionally occupied by the indigenous people and determined its demarcation.
In the Action to Suspend the Court Order (SL 38) presented to the STF, the MPF had argued that both the judicial decisions taken by the Federal Court of 1st Instance in Roraima, through its granting of a court order to suspend the effects of the Government Decree No. 820/98 issued by the Minister of Justice, and that of the Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region, upholding the court order, violated the entire constitutional system set out to protect the indigenous people in the country.
The judicial decisions were attacked by the MPF, through SL 38, because they excluded the border region with Guyana and Venezuela, the urban and rural centers that have already been built, the federal, state and municipal highways, possessions and properties dating from before1934, the border strip with Guyana and Venezuela and the Mount Roraima National Park from the indigenous land to be demarcated.
In spite of the Supreme Court’s decision, the final decision depends on the judgment of the Class Action that is being processed by the 1st Jurisdiction of the Federal Court in Roraima. This means that there is still a chance of a decision in favor of demarcation in accordance with Government Decree No. 820/89 issued by the Minister of Justice (continuous area). Unfortunately, the STF decision has made the road to demarcation more complicated.
The Supreme Court’s decision has left the federal government in a comfortable position. Having let the first year of his government pass by without taking the initiative to ratify the demarcation of the Raposa/Serra do Sol indigenous land, the President of the Republic can now use the decisions taken by the courts as a justification for not having done so.
For the main indigenous people’s organizations and their allies, the demarcation of the Raposa/Serra do Sol indigenous land today represents one of the main symbols in their fight to guarantee the indigenous people’s rights as laid down in the Constitution.
FEDERAL COURT OF RORAIMA ORDERS INDIGENOUS PEOPLE TO LEAVE THEIR OWN LANDS
Ten days! This is the length of time that the Federal Court of Roraima has given for the indigenous people in the Raposa/Serra do Sol indigenous land to leave part of their traditional territory.
On 26 August, the ranchers Ivalcir Centenaro and Ivo Barentini obtained a court order granting them land rights where there are two settlements, Jauari andRetiro Terra Livre, situated close to their supposed “proprieties”.
This court order was granted by the Substitute Federal Judge of Roraima, Helder Girão Barreto, based on the same class action that resulted in the court orders rejected by the Supreme Court on 1 September (see previous text).
With only three days left until the end of the period granted by the Federal Court of Roraima, the people of the Raposa/Serra do Sol indigenous land are passing through a very worrying period. According to the decision of the judge, if the communities do not leave the settlements, the Indigenous Council of Roraima will be obliged to pay a fine of ten thousand reals for every day that the land remains occupied.
