Newsletter n. 746
Court convicts Aracruz Celulose of prejudice against indigenous people
The Aracruz Celulose company was prohibited from copying or disseminating contents in its website or in printed matter referring to the Tupinikim and Guarani peoples of the state of Espírito Santo as impostors, or else it will be subject to paying a fine of one hundred thousand reals for each day that such material is disseminated on the Internet or in marketing events (read the full decision here).
Since August, the company had been distributing primers about the indigenous issue to schools and local residents of the municipality of Aracruz, referring to the indigenous communities in the region as “alleged indigenous people” and using other prejudicial expressions. These contents were also posted on the website of the company.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office in the municipality of São Mateus filed a public civil action against Aracruz which was judged by federal judge Flávio Roberto de Souza, of the 1ª Circuit of the Federal Court of Linhares. According to the lawsuit, the contents disseminated by the company favored ethnic-racial conflicts between the indigenous people and the surrounding society.
In the hands of Thomaz Bastos
This decision constitutes an important victory for the Tupinikim and Guarani communities. On the other hand, the process for demarcation the 11,000 hectares of the land of these peoples, which was invaded by the Aracruz Celulose company, is stuck in the office of the minister of Justice.
Between December 18 and 20, eighteen Tupinikim and Guarani leaders were in Brasília to have a meeting with the president of the National Foundation for Indigenous People (Funai), Mércio Pereira Gomes, and with the minister of Justice, Márcio Thomaz Bastos. This was part of an agreement signed for the indigenous people to leave Portocel, a port controlled by the Aracruz Celulose company that was occupied on December 12 and 13 by about 300 Tupinikim and Guarani.
The meeting with the ministry of Justice, however, was not held. On the 19th, the leaders stayed for over four hours in front of the agency without being received by anybody. The leaders weren’t even able to get a copy of the process. “We returned to our people with nothing in our hands to show our community,” regretted chief Wilson Tupinikim. “We wanted a document confirming that the process is with the minister, but they wouldn’t give it to us. Funai told us that the Ministry of Justice wouldn’t give them the document. But we will return to Brasília in January,” the chief assured.
Since September 12, the process for demarcating the Tupinikim and Guarani lands is with the Ministry of Justice. According to Decree 1775/96, by October 12 the minister should have published the administrative ruling or requested Funai to carry out more studies on the case. The solution to the issue of the area in conflict only depends on a decision of Thomaz Bastos, who will be leaving office late in January 2007.
One year after the murder of Dorvalino, life in Marangatu, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, is still tense and precarious
In the afternoon of December 24, 2005, Dorvalino Rocha, a Guarani-Kaiowá leader, was cruelly killed by private security guards of farmers of the Antônio João region in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. One year after his murder, his confessed killer is still at large and his people are still camped in a small piece of land that belongs to them by right.
Dorvalino was killed 10 days after about 700 Guarani-Kaiowá were evicted from the Nhande Ru Marangatu land, which was officially confirmed as an indigenous land in March 2004. Over 200 federal police officers carried out the eviction order, which as based on a preliminary order issued by the then chief justice of the Supreme Court, Nelson Jobim. He accepted a request filed by invaders of the land and suspended the effects of the official confirmation of the bounds of the Nhande Ru Marangatu land. The Supreme Court promised to judge the merit of the request by February 2006. However, the lawsuit has not been judged so far and the indigenous people continue to wait for a decision.
On December 30, the Guarani-Kaiowá community will stage a demonstration to remind the population of the murder of Dorvalino, reflect on their current situation, and define actions for 2007. The Guarani teacher Lea Aquino explained that the situation in the area is still tense and precarious: “The security guards of the same company in which the murderer of Dorvalino worked continue to threaten us. We cannot grow our crops and many people are afraid of even looking for a job, because the people around us are the farmers who don’t like us. We don’t have a school for all our children either and the only one we have will not be recognized, because they say the land is not ours. But we are still waiting for a final decision on our land and nobody judges the process. The situation is very difficult, but we will not give up and we will continue to fight for our rights.”
The community asked the Federal Prosecutor’s Office to request the authorities to take measures to solve the health, education, and land problems being faced by the Guarani-Kaiowá. They also demanded a quicker judgment of the murderer of Dorvalino. Two weeks ago, the defense witnesses and the confessed defendant, Jimenes, provided depositions. The defendant, who is at large, continues to insist that he killed Dorvalino in self-defense.
Brasília, December 21, 2006.
