Friday morning May 23, two masked man on a motorbike shot and severely wounded a couple of Guajajara people in the state of Maranhão. They were hospitalised. This shooting, together with the murder of the six year old girl two weeks ago, provoked a lot of tension in the region, leaving the Guajajara confined in their villages.

 

Lung perforation

The couple was walking along the MA-006 road, close to the indigenous village of Bacurizinho, in the municipality of Grajaú. When the motor stopped and the men ordered them to halt otherwise be killed. Though the couple obeyed, the masked men still shot them. There is no indication of the motives for the shooting, other than the couple being indigenous.

After the shooting Itamar Carlos Guajajara (35) and Deolice Rodrigues Guajajara (30) were taken to the hospital, the first with a perforated lung as the bullet was shot in his back, the second with a bullet wound in her thy, also shot from behind.

The Federal Police started an investigation but so far the gunmen have not been identified.

 

Raped

This was the second shooting in the area within a fortnight as a six year old Guajajara girl living along the same road was killed two weeks ago by masked gunmen on a motorbike, while she was at home, watching television.

This shooting caused Amnesty International to launch an international letter writing campaign, to protest the violence, attacks and murders suffered by the Guajajara people the last couple of years. Last year the indigenous village of Bacurizinho was invaded and burnt to the ground. In 2005, the village of Kamihaw was invaded and the cacique (chief) João Araújo Guajajara (70) was assassinated by gunmen, his daughter was raped, his son was shot in his head, another Guajajara was shot in his leg.

 

School suspended

With the recent shootings tensions in the region soared which left the Guajajara, who feel threatened, confined in their villages. Especially after one of the suspected murders of the little girl was arrested in Arame. Instead of appeasing the region, this provoked a strong reaction among the non-indigenous of the city against the indigenous. “The threats grew strongly”, reports Rosemeire Diniz, coordinator of Cimi-Maranhão. “The indigenous are confined to their own area. The children can’t go to school in town anymore and part of the healthcare was suspended.”

 

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Amnesty International highlights violence against indigenous people

Amnesty International, in its human rights year report, published May 28, highlighted the violence committed against indigenous people in Brazil, among other human rights violations in 2007. The report presents cases of assassinated Indians, the degrading and slave-like conditions in the sugarcane fields and the persecution of indigenous leaders.

 

Murders

In the report, Amnesty confirms that “Rural activists and indigenous people who realize campaigns for the right to land were threatened and attacked by police officers and private security forces.”

Among the various murders in 2007, the publications mentions the case of the two Guarani Kaiowá Indians, Xurete e Ortiz Lopes, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, as examples of murders in the context of land conflicts.

With respect to the same state, it highlights the exploration of many Guarani Kaiowá Indians, working in slave like conditions in the sugarcane fields. In 2007, in two operations of the Ministry of Labour, 980 indigenous were liberated from this situation, the majority of them Guarani Kaiowá.

 

Besides the rapid expansion of the sugarcane production, with its social impacts, there is a variety of causes for land conflicts in Brazil: the expansion of other monocultures as soy beans and eucalyptus trees, (illegal) logging by wood companies, mining activities and infra-structure projects, such as hydroelectric dams and the transposition of the São Francisco river.

 

Persecution

Amnesty also presented cases of persecution of human rights defenders. Among them, the NGO highlights the situation of the cacique (chief) Marcos Luidson, of the Xukuru people (in the state of Pernambuco). After receiving various threats he was forced to accept police protection. Among the Xukuru various leaders are not only persecuted, but also criminalized.