Newsletter no 783

 

– United Nations Organization approves Universal Declaration of Indigenous Peoples’ Rights

– Agreement between government and indigenous people from the Raposa Serra do Sol land organizes removal of invaders from indigenous land

 

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United Nations Organization approves Universal Declaration of Indigenous Peoples’ Rights

 

On September 13, the General Assembly of the United Nations Organization (UN) approved the Declaration of Indigenous Peoples’ Rights. This international instrument will protect more than 370 million indigenous people all over the world.

 

“This Universal Declaration is an important instrument for indigenous peoples to fight for their rights,” evaluates Saulo Feitosa, Cimi’s representative in the National Commission for the Indigenous Policy. He highlighted that the approved text recognizes the right to self-government and self-determination of indigenous peoples. “Based on this decision, the UN recommends that the world’s nations should respect the political, social and legal definitions of each people,” he added.

 

The text was approved by 143 votes in favor, 4 against – Canada, United States, New Zealand and Australia – and 11 abstentions. One of the main points of the document refers to the legal right of indigenous people to their land. According to the Declaration, national states should ensure legal protection to indigenous peoples’ territories and resources, and not even one action should be carried out in indigenous lands without the prior and informed consent of indigenous people. They should be consulted according to how they are organized.

 

The indigenous peoples considered that the approval of the Declaration was a victory. “This shows that both States and the international community realized that our articulation for ensuring our rights is increasingly strong,” celebrates Sandro Tuxá, from the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples from the Northeast region, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo.

 

According to him, just like what happened when Convention no.169 of the International Labour Organisation was approved, the guidelines established in the UN Declaration will have positive effects for indigenous peoples living in Brazil. “It is an additional guarantee and a means to demand compliance with formal determinations. National states are recognizing that we have rights, and that it’s possible for people within a country to be different, to have their own language, their own organization…,” adds Sandro. 

In an official report, the Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, said that States should incorporate the Declaration into their human rights agendas as fast as they can.

See the full text of the Declaration in Spanish and in English.

 

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Agreement between government and indigenous peoples from the Raposa Serra do Sol land organizes removal of invaders from the indigenous area

 

On September 12, indigenous leaders from the Raposa Serra do Sol land (in the state of Roraima), president Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, and representatives of federal and state agencies signed a document setting forth the responsibilities of the Federal Government and indigenous peoples for removing invaders who have not left their land yet.

 

According to the agreement, indigenous organizations will make an effort to avoid confrontations involving indigenous people during the removal of non-indigenous people from the land. During the eviction operation, they also pledged not to enter the security zone to be defined by the Federal Police. Indigenous leaders are also expected to persuade indigenous people staying in non-indigenous farms to leave these areas. 

 

The government pledged to ensure the safety, protection and surveillance of indigenous lands. It will also draw up public policies and sustainable development projects and will foster, through partnerships with governmental agencies, the economy and sustainability of indigenous communities.

 

“The actions contemplated in the agreement are meant to be complementary. In addition to removing farmers from our lands, the government will implement actions for improving the current situation of indigenous villages. And we will join forces with all peoples and organizations. We will no longer remain scattered,” said Terêncio Salamão Manduca, vice-coordinator of the Indigenous Council of Roraima, which is one of the seven indigenous organizations that signed the agreement.

 

He emphasized that the farmers should be removed from the region to ease tensions in it. Last week, rice farmers who resist the idea of leaving the lands staged demonstrations in Boa Vista, capital of the state, and blocked the BR-174 roadway. Terêncio said that his organization is not feeling this pressure from the farmers, as he believes they will be successfully removed from the area. “It will happen, everything has been decided already, and they know it,” he concludes.

 

A favorable decision at the Supreme Federal Court

Once again, a decision made at the Supreme Federal Court (STF) favored a claim from indigenous people living in the Raposa Serra do Sol land. Associate justice Carlos Ayres Britto rejected, through a preliminary order, a request filed by the state of Roraima for suspending, in part, the official confirmation of the bounds of the indigenous land. The bounds of the Raposa Serra do Sol territory were confirmed on April 15, 2005. Almost 18,000 thousand indigenous people are living in the 1.74-million-hectare land.

 

 

Brasília, September 13, 2007

www.cimi.org.br

Indianist Missionary Council