Following an incident between federal prosecutors and the judge presiding over the jury trial of the men accused of the 2003 assassination of Guarani Kaiowá leader Marcos Verón, the prosecutor of the Public Ministry (MPF) abandoned the trial in protest. This led to the close of the jury trial. The issue at stake was the right of the Guarani testify in their own language, utilizing an interpreter, during the trial proceedings.

 

The case is Criminal Case no. 2003.60.02.000374-2 in the 1^st Federal Criminal Court in São Paulo, envolving defendants E. R., R. C. dos S. and J. C. I.,

Presiding judge Montovani Avelino decided on Wednesday, May 5, at the 2nd day of the trial to deny the indigenous Guarani Kaiowá witnesses the us  of their native language during the trial. This led the federal prosecutors to withdraw in protest from the Plenary,

The judge argued that in the previous stages of the process, the indigenous people were heard without the assistance of an interpreter: "What I verified in the process was that the depositions were taken in Portuguese, [therefor] I am going to utilize the Portuguese. I hope this question, then, is decided and we are able to continue."

 

Violation of rights: UN Declaration
denying the indigenous people, victims and witnesses of the violence under trial, the possibility to express themselves in Guarani, constitutes a frontal violation of paragraph 2 of Article 13 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, in the understanding of the prosecution. This paragraph establishes that: "

Violation of rights: ILO Convention 169
Violated, also, is  Article 12 of Convention 169 of the ILO, regarding Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, which states: "The peoples concerned shall be safeguarded against the abuse of their rights and shall be able to take legal proceedings, either individually or through their representative bodies, for the effective protection of these rights. Measures shall be taken to ensure that members of these peoples can understand and be understood in legal proceedings, where necessary through the provision of interpretation or by other effective means. ".

Violation of rights: Brazilian Constitution
It is primarily the Federal Constitution that recognizes Brazil as being a multiethnic state, and the standard is established in Article 231 of the Federal Constitution: "Indigenous shall have their social organization, customs, languages. creeds and traditions recognized, as well as their originary rights over the lands they traditionally occupy, it being incumbent upon the Union to demarcate them, protect and ensure respect for all of their property."

Inalienable
The right of the Guarani People to express themselves in their language, according to Federal Prosecutor Vladimir Barros Aras, is a fundamental and inalienable right recognized by the Brazilian State. Denial of this right obliges the prosecution to file a third Partial Correction in that two other measures had been brought before the Federal Court regarding the compilation of documents and the exhibit of a video recording about the Guarani. This would render the continuity of the work of the defense (MPF, Federal Attorneys of FUNAI and attorney Michael Mary Nolan) unviable.

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Trial of Marcos Veron´s murder suspended

Biting the tongue

States shall take effective measures to ensure that this right is protected and also to ensure that indigenous peoples can understand and be understood in political, legal and administrative proceedings, where necessary through the provision of interpretation or by other appropriate means".