On Thursday, April 17, in the afternoon, a demonstration against actions taken by the Brazilian Army, the Ministry of Health and the Supreme Federal Court (STF) was staged at the end of the 2008 Free Land Camp. About 800 indigenous people who had been camping in Brasília since April 15 protested against actions taken by representatives of these agencies against indigenous peoples’ rights and their inaction to ensure them. On April 18 in the morning, 35 indigenous people attended a hearing granted by President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, who pledged to attend the next meeting of the National Commission for the Indigenous Policy.

 

The indigenous people protested in front of the Ministry of Defense against the position of the Brazilian Army in relation to indigenous peoples’ territorial rights and remembered criticisms made by general Augusto Heleno, the military commander of the Amazon region, on the demarcation of the Raposa Serra do Sol indigenous land, in the state of Roraima, as a continuous strip.

 

The Supreme Federal Court has assumed positions against the interests of indigenous peoples. For example, on April 9, the STF determined that the removal of rice farmers from the Raposa Serra do Sol land was to be suspended. Another issue refers to the delay in judging processes, such as the one related to the indigenous land of the Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe people, which live in the south of the state of Bahia and have been waiting for a decision on a process for nullifying title deeds on their territory for 25 years already. Not to mention the case of the Ñhanderu Marangatu land of the Guarani Kaiowá people, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul: they have been waiting for the grounds of a lawsuit challenging the official confirmation of the bounds of their land to be judge since 2005.

 

On April 17 at night, the vice president of the Supreme Federal Court, justice Gilmar Mendes, met with a committee made up of indigenous people which reported these situations. As regards the Raposa indigenous land, Gilmar declared that he will “hear all the people involved.” However, on April 14 he announced that he supports reviewing the demarcation of indigenous lands in continuous areas. In relation to the situation facing the Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe and the Guarani Kaiowá peoples, he said he already knows about these cases.

 

At the hearing with the indigenous people on April 18, President Lula promised to act jointly with the Minister of Justice and Funai’s President to raise the awareness of justices of the Supreme Federal Court on the importance of maintaining the demarcation of the Raposa Serra do Sol indigenous land in continuous areas. Also, indigenous people delivered a final document of the Free Land Camp 2008 to President Lula.

 

Chaos in indigenous health care

Apart from territorial issues, the chaotic situation of indigenous health care was one of the main topics discussed in the Free Land Camp. Because of the State’s inefficiency to take measures in this sector, the participants in the Free Land Camp protested in front of the Ministry of Health. They took a coffin on which the words “Funasa kills indigenous peoples” could be read and staged a symbolic burial of the agency.

 

Also on April 17, representatives of Funai, Funasa, of the General Attorney’s Office and of the Ministries of Education and Environment, together with Deborah Duprat, attorney of the 6th Chamber of the Republic, went to the Camp to hear demands of indigenous leaders.

 

Chinaglia pledges to submit the Statute of Indigenous Peoples to Congress for analysis

The main claim made by indigenous people in the 2008 Free Land Camp was to request Congress to resume discussions on the Statute of Indigenous Peoples, since it has been with Congress for 14 years already and it has not issued any final decision on it yet. On April16, participants of the Camp were received in Congress by the president of the Chamber of Representatives, Arlindo Chinaglia (Workers’ Party-state of São Paulo), and by other parliamentarians. Chinaglia pledged to submit the Statute of Indigenous Peoples to Congress for analysis and voting. In addition, the indigenous people requested the passage of a Bill for the establishment of the National Council for the Indigenous Policy.

 

On April 15, the first day of the Camp, the legal advisor to the Indianist Missionary Council (Cimi), Paulo Guimarães, recalled the historical process of the indigenous peoples’ struggle since the 1988 Constitution was promulgated. He also stressed the importance of indigenous mobilizations for the Statute to be passed. “This battle for the Statute to be passed will be as hard as the battle in the Constituent Assembly. At least 15 topics are expected to be addressed by the Statute.”

 

During the opening session of the event, chief Marcos Xukuru, from the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples from the Northeast region, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santos (Apoime) spoke about the need to create the National Council for the Indigenous Policy, which would be a council made up of indigenous and governmental representatives vested with powers to deliberate on decentralized policies. “Thus, we will be protagonists of our own history and will be able to define the paths of topics related to indigenous peoples,” Marcos said.