• STF due to resume judgment on Raposa Serra do Sol on March 18

 

• The Guarani-Kaiowá reaffirm fight for traditional land in Mato Grosso do Sul

 

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STF DUE TO RESUME JUDGMENT ON RAPOSA SERRA DO SOL ON MARCH 18

 

On March 18 the Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) must resume the judgment on the indigenous land Raposa Serra do Sol, according to announcements on the STF site. In the two sessions already conducted, eight of the 11 ministers voted to maintain the confirmation of the land located in the northeast of Roraima. The judgment was suspended on December 10 of 2008 after minister Marco Aurélio de Mello asked to review the process.

 

Besides Marco Aurélio, abstaining from voting were ministers Celso de Mello and Gilmar Mendes. The judgment was started on August 27 of 2008, when the court relator, minister Carlos Ayres Britto voted for fully uphold the directive from the Minister of Justice that determines the demarcation of the area as continuous. The session was interrupted by the request for review of minister Menezes Direito.

 

On December 10, the action returned to the Plenário and the ministers voted for maintaining the confirmation: Menezes Direto, who established some conditions, Carmen Lúcia, Ricardo Lewandowski, Eros Grau, Joaquim Barbosa, Cezar Peluso e Ellen Gracie. In turn, Marco Aurélio requested review.

 

The action in debate (PET 3388) petitions for the annulling of the Directive (Portaria) that declared the area of 1.7m. hectares as indigenous land. Following the judgment of the petition, the STF needs to suspend the preliminary decision that paralyzed, in April 2008, the operation of removal of the invaders of Raposa Serra do Sol. The group of rice farmers that refused to leave the indigenous land reacted with violence to the action for disintrusion by the Federal Police. Faced with the tension in the area, the STF suspended the operation until the PET 3388 was judged.

 

The circa 18 thousand indigenous inhabitants of the Makuxi, Patamona, Taurepang, Wapichana and Ingarikó, who live in Raposa Serra do Sol have been waiting since 2005, the year of the confirmation of the land, the removal of the invaders. For more than 30 years the indigenous peoples have been fighting for their land. In this period, more than 20 leaders were assassinated; various people were injured; bridges, schools and homes were burned, among other violence.

 

Production and mobilization

“We hope that this time the judgment concludes and that we return to the land with a good announcement”, affirmed the leader Martilza de Lima of the Makuxi people, who is in Brasilia. Some indigenous [residents of RSS] will attend the judgment in the Supreme Court. On the day before, the 17^th, they will conduct a ritual in front of the STF.

Martilza affirms that the indigenous peoples want to be able to work in peace in the land and for this they hope for the removal of the invaders. On the two days prior to the judgment, 16^th and 17^th of March, the villages of Raposa Serra do Sol will be selling their products in two fairs, one in the community of Barro, within the indigenous land, another in Boa Vista, the capital of Roraima. “We produce for the people of Roraima and we want to collaborate ever more toward the betterment of the state”, Martilza concluded.

 

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THE GUARANI-KAIOWÁ REAFFIRM THE FIGHT FOR TRADITIONAL LAND IN MATO GROSSO DO SUL

 

The Guarani-Kaiowá in Mato Grosso do Sul continue fighting for demarcation of their traditional lands in Mato Grosso do Sul and demand compliance with the Term of Adjustment of Conduct (TAC) that calls for identification of lands in the state. This was the conclusion of the Aty Guasu (assembly) that reunited circa 200 indigenous attendees between the 26^th and 28^th of February in Amambai.

 

 According to Guarani Anastásio Peralta, the families are concerned, but await the effect of the TAC signed by the National Foundation of the Indian and the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) in 2007. The Funai has been preparing new instructions for detailing how the work of identification of the tekohás (traditional lands) will be made.

 

The document approved at the Aty Guasu reminds that Mato Grosso do Sul “is the state with the lowest index of demarcated lands in the nation, in addition to having the worst index of assassinations, suicides, imprisonment, infant malnutrition, among the indigenous peoples.” They also highlighted that various leaders have been criminalized for struggling for their rights.

 

Passo Piraju

Upon leaving the Aty Guasu, 40 indigenous residents of the region of Dourados paid a visit of solidarity to the village of Passo Piraju. In this village, on the 12^th of February, in an extremely violent police action, four indigenous people were imprisoned accused of involvement in a supposed theft. “The people are very alarmed. They are afraid that the police will return and break into the homes, smash things, as occurred on that day”, relates Anastásio.

 

Some of the circa 80 people who live in Passo Piraju are abandoning the village in fear. According to Anastasio, yesterday (4/3), the indigenous residents heard shots that were being fired near the river that is in the village.

 

The indigenous prisoners are in the presidio Harry Amorim Costa of the city of Dourados. The Passo Piraju community denounced the aggression that they experienced to prosecutors of the Funai, to the Federal Public Ministry of Dourados and to the Indigenist Missionary Counsel (CIMI).

 

Brasília, 5 de março de 2009

Cimi – Conselho Indigenista Missionário