Newsletter n. 803 Indigenous people demand the application of the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights by the State
Between February 13 and 14, 61 indigenous people from Brazil and from other countries of Latin America met in Brasília to discuss how the definitions set out in the Declaration on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights can be adopted by the Brazilian State. Representatives of the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary Branches were invited by the indigenous people to participate in the discussions.
According to Conceição Pitaguary, from the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples from the Northeast region, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santos (Apoinme), one of the main challenges involved in implementing the Declaration in Brazil is disseminating the information contained in it to indigenous communities. On February 12, a book called Um olhar Indígena sobre a Declaração das Nações Unidas (An Indigenous perspective on the UN Declaration) was launched for this purpose.
The book is a Portuguese version of the document with texts that explain the meaning of the articles contained in the Declaration. In addition, indigenous people expect to hold regional meetings for discussing and better understanding the Declaration. They will also use the Declaration as a benchmark in discussions on the Statute of Indigenous Peoples.
“Make sure that the Declaration will become a law, as in Bolivia, and that it will be complied with,” stressed Jecinaldo Sateré Mawé, from the Coordinating Board of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon Region (Coiab), when he delivered a copy of the book to representatives from the State who attended the event.
Senator Fátima Cleide (Workers’ Party-State of Roraima) pledged to request a public hearing at the Senate with the aim of discussing the contents of the Declaration with other senators. Manual Castilho, secretary-general of the presidency of the Supreme Federal Court, will propose to the court that the Declaration’s contents should be more widely disseminated within the Judiciary Branch. “There are some judges who still don’t recognize ILO’s [International Labor Organization] Convention 169 as a law; we want the Declaration’s contents to be seen as a right of ours,” reinforced Sandro Tuxá, from Apoinme.
Indigenous people who attended the event complained about the absence of representatives of the Executive Branch in the discussions and in considering their proposals. They registered this absence and demanded more respect for indigenous peoples in the final letter of the meeting.
In different countries of Latin America, those who are against the Declaration have been arguing that it is not an actual law and that it is not binding. “The Universal Declaration on Human Rights is not binding either, but it is the mother of many laws throughout the world,” recalled Juan Leon Alvarado, from the Maya-Quiché people, who is the ambassador of Guatemala to Ecuador and former president of the OAS Committee which is discussing the American Declaration on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights.
The event was organized by Apoinme, by the Coordinating Board of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon Region (Coiab), by the Indigenous Council of Roraima (Cir), and by the Warã Institute.
Declaration
The Declaration on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights was approved on September 13, 2007 by the General Assembly of the United Nations, after 20 years of discussions between the countries and much pressure from indigenous peoples. It addresses the right of indigenous peoples to self-determination; their right to a land of their own, to their territories and natural resources; to prior, free and informed consent; to the non-written rules which govern the life of indigenous communities internally; to intellectual property.
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“A glass of water for who is thirsty is just nonsense talk,” Ciro stressed in a hearing on the Transposition project
Today (February 14), during a hearing held at the Federal Senate on the São Franciso river transposition project, federal representative Ciro Gomes (Brazilian Socialist Party-state of Ceará) recognized, while arguing in favor of the transposition project, that it will not benefit populations scattered throughout Brazil’s semiarid region. Dom Luiz Cappio, bishop of Barra (state of Bahia), and the minister of the National Integration, Geddel Vieira Lima, amongst others, attended the hearing.
Dom Luiz stressed that the transposition project will benefit large northeastern farmers to the detriment of the population in remote rural areas that has no access to water. He compared the transposition project to other alternatives proposed for the region, such as to projects contemplated in the Northeast Atlas developed by the National Water Agency, which were proposed by the federal administration itself. While the transposition project is expected to benefit 12 million people in 4 states, the projects contemplated in the Atlas can benefit up to 34 million people in 10 states. He highlighted that the transposition project was developed for economic purposes, for producing fruits for export and for breeding shrimps under controlled conditions.
The bishop reaffirmed that the government has been hiding facts about the transposition project. “The transposition project is antiethic, because it takes advantage of the good faith of people. Ensuring the well-being of the population should be its main target, and if this was true we would be supporting it,” the bishop stressed.
Ciro Gomes defended the implementation of the transposition project, highlighting that the river can support the 26m³-second discharge contemplated in the project without suffering serious consequences. On the other hand, he recognized that the “glass of water for those who are thirsty motto is just nonsense talk. The transposition project is not a panacea for the northeast or anything of that kind, but it will help to ensure a safer water supply for humans and for the animals of 12 million people who live in areas covered the transposition project,” he said.
“They say 12 million people because they included in their estimate the population of medium-size and large cities such as Fortaleza, Mossoró and João Pessoa, which are not facing serious drought-related problems. When they talk about water supply security, it means that water will be piped to where it is already concentrated,” argued Luciano Silveira, from the coordinating board of the Semiarid Region Articulation (ASA), recalling that, for the first time, those who support the transposition project recognized that the population of the semi-arid region will continue to be excluded.
More discussions
After about 5 hours of discussions, the participants saw that a new meeting should be held at the Senate to provide more clarifications about the project. In addition, a committee made up of senators will visit the San Francisco river area in July.
“This was a day of citizenship rights. It is a shame that it only happened after the project began to be implemented,” Dom Luiz said as he thanked those attending the meeting for the opportunity to participate in it. In 2005, after Dom Luiz fasted for the first time to protest against the transposition project, Lula pledged to discuss the transposition project before actually implementing it.
Brasília, February 18, 2008.
