Ranch owner can´t stop state organs to attend indigenous people, court rules
Court decision authorizes representatives of state organs and representatives of public authorities to enter a privately owned ranch in the municipality of Paranhos (Mato grosso do Sul, Brazil) where a Guarani Kaiowá community has been living more than three months now. The self-declared ranch owner had denied access, in order to pressure the indigenous to leave the land.
on August 19, the indigenous Ypo´I community decided to return once more to their ancestral lands that they have reclaimed for many years already. A year ago, they had also reoccupied their land, but they were expulsed violently. A few days later, police found the body of the indigenous professor Genivaldo Vera in a creek near the fazenda, with signs of violent death. Another professor, Rolindo Vera, remains missing. At the same time, the area is being studied by the Federal Organ for Indigenous Affairs (Funai) in order to be demarcated.
This time the ranch owner filed for a desoccupation order, which was conceded by the Federal Court in Ponte Porã. The community was to leave the ranch on November 16. On the eve of the 16th, however, the Federal Tribunal of the 3rd Region – TRF3 – struck down that decision and allowed the indigenous people to remain in the area, "until the production of expert anthropological evidence", that is, until completion of studies that confirm the indications of traditional occupation of the region by that ethnic group.
Though the Ypo´I community remained in the São Luiz ranch, the ranch owner continued denying authorities access to them in order to pressure the community to leave the ranch. This meant that any state assistance was denied, including the supply of drinking water, food and medical services.
The Public Ministery filed a demand that the entrance be allowed. In early November, the Federal Court in Ponta Porã declined admission of this request, arguing it had already decided for repossession on behalf of the ranch owners, demanding the evacuation of the area within 10 days.
The Public Ministery filed another demand that access be granted, presenting different arguments. This time, the court reconsidered the request, determining that the proprietors of Fazenda São Luiz must accept the ingress of aid agencies to the indigenous people. The decision is from December 1.
According to the decision of the Tribunal, "there exists evidence that the Fazenda São Luiz might be demarcated as an area traditionally occupied by Indians". Analysis of the cartographic records of the fazenda, made by an engineer from the National Foundation for Indigenous Affairs, confirms that the lands are in the Tekohá (sacred land) Ypo’i and Triunfo, from which the indigenous people were expulsed following the era of the formation process of fazendas in the region. Anthropological studies in the region are underway and will be published by the FUNAI.
The State agencies responsible for providing assistance to the indigenous peoples have authorization to ingress twice a month, every 15 days, for delivery of food parcels and medicines to the indigenous, being obligated to provide prior notice to the owners. These cannot oppose, under penalty of disobedience. The first visit of the FUNAI (National Foundation for Indigenous Affairs), FUNASA (National Health Foundation) and Ministério Público Federal (MPF-federal prosecutors) to the area was scheduled to take place Friday the tenth of December.
Occupation history
Since August 19, 2010, about fifty Kaiowá-Guarani have occupied the area of the legal reserve on the fazenda São Luiz. This is a percentage of the ranch that cannot be farmed, but must be preserved in forested state. They are isolated and without access to food and health care. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office in Mato Grosso do Sul and the FUNAI filed a joint legal action by which the landowners were forced to accept the ingress of state agencies to provide care to the indigenous people.
Missing teacher
The indigenous struggle for this land, which is considered sacred, has a history of violence. On October 28, 2009, a group of twenty families of indigenous Guarani-Kaiowá occupied the Fazenda São Luiz, in Paranhos, claimed as the Ypo’i territory of traditional occupation. The indigenous people remained on the land until Nov. 2, when they were ambushed by a group of gunmen, who inveighed against them.
A few days later, police found the body of the indigenous professor Genivaldo Vera in a creek near the fazenda, with signs of violent death. Another professor, Rolindo Vera, remains missing.
Procedure Reference in the Federal Court of Ponta Porã: 0002584-96.2010.403.6005
Communications Assessor of the Ministério Público Federal in Mato Grosso do Sul
(67) 3312-7265 / 9297-1903
(67) 3312-7283 / 9142-3976
