This year it will be the 11th time: but is there a reason for celebration?

 

The eleventh International Day of the UN World´s Indigenous People will be commemorated in New York with presentations of indigenous peoples, a message of the Secretary General, Kofi Annan, and a panel discussion “The Cause of Indigenous Peoples is Ours”. Also the new film “Indigenous Peoples and the United Nations” will be screened.

In 2005 the Second International Decade of the World´s Indigenous Peoples has started. Which means that within 10 years time we were not able to solve the problems of indigenous people in the areas of human rights, environment, development, education and health.

 

In Brazil we can only confirm that the problems on indigenous issues are not solved:

 

– Only eight indigenous lands have been recognized by the Government this year; still more then 500 lands are on the list.

– Since the beginning of 2005 40 children of the Guarani in Mato Grosso do Sul have died of malnutrition or other related diseases.

– 23 Indians were killed in the first half of this year. In the last two months four Indians were murdered, two of them by the military police, two by gunmen.

– Leaders of indigenous peoples are more and more criminalized.

– There are more than 50 proposals to change the law on indigenous rights, mentioned in the Constitution of 1988.

– The deforestation of the Amazon, where the majority of the indigenous peoples of Brazil are living, has been growing last year with 6% (in total 26.130 km2) due to (illegal) logging and the upcoming soya business.

 

In the northeast of Brazil, in the State of Pernambuco, there will be an audience on the 9th of August to inform the public about the latest crimes against the Truká Indians. Two Truká Indians were killed on the 30th of June and when on 11 July the leader of the Truká, Aurivan dos Santos, went to a nearby federal police station to make a statement about the killing of his brother, he was arrested. The police justified this on the basis of an arrest warrant issued in 2003 for alleged theft of cattle. The Truká say they had paid for the cattle, and have receipts to prove it. This case was denunciated at the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations (WGIP) in Geneva (18-22 July).

 

Only one of the examples to make clear that the 11th International Day of the World´s Indigenous People is necessary to get the attention of the public. The public opinion is a effective force for change. Its power will make it more difficult, and hopefully in the end impossible, for governments and companies to oppress indigenous peoples.

 

Background information (5 August 2005)Around 735.000 indigenous people are living in Brazil.These indigenous peoples are living in different ways: some are living in their own areas, some are living in the city, others are not been contacted yet and live completely isolated. There are also groups who had to hide their indigenous identity for decades, because of prejudice and violence. Only now they restart identifying themselves as indigenous peoples. They are divided in 235 different peoples and staying in 24 of the 27 states of Brazil. In the last 500 years 1470 peoples have been eradicated, most of them were living in the north of Brazil (820). There are 180 different languages spoken by these peoples.841 Areas are recognized as indigenous areas. Of those 841 only 311 areas are officially registered.

 

www.cimi.org.br

For further information contact: Geertje van der Pas, [email protected] Tel +55 61 21061650

 

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