Please support the campaign to defend the rights of indigenous peoples in the Raposa Serra do Sol region of Brazil. To provide support please visit: Rainforest Foundation US and the Indigenous Council of Roraima
 

Armed men destroyed four indigenous villages and terrorized their occupants yesterday in Raposa Serra do Sol, Northern Brazil. One community member was shot and is in critical but stable condition; and another is missing. The communities were left with nothing but the clothes on their backs, but have vowed to hold their ground and remain on their land.

Yesterday’s violence brings to a head a tense situation in Raposa Serra do Sol (RSS), the traditional land of the Macuxi, Wapichana, Taurepang, Ingaricó and Patamona peoples. Although it was demarcated by then Brazilian Minister of Justice Renan Calheiros in 1998, the area has yet to be ratified by the President the last step for its official recognition. The President’s delay allows the tension to grow. While the land situation remains uncertain, local landowners including rice growers who have illegally invaded the area continue to pressure against its demarcation. This led to violence in January, when the Minister of Justice announced that RSS would be ratified; roads were blockaded, and local government offices invaded. This latest episode on the occasion of a visit by the Minister of Justice to the state may have even more dire consequences.

Early yesterday morning 40 armed men, led by a local rice grower, invaded the community of Jawari, in RSS. Shots were fired indiscriminately: one person was hit in the arm and face, and beaten up. Tractors destroyed the village, razing its 22 houses, health post and school. Everything was burned, including equipment, crops, and household animals. The tuxaua, or leader of the community, was abducted by the invaders but managed to escape. Another community member is missing; his documents were found near the village with blood nearby. Later in the day, it was learned that three other communities in the area Homologação, São José and Brilho do Sol were razed in the same manner.

The Rainforest Foundation US works with the Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR), which represents the 40,000 indigenous peoples of the state of Roraima. The two organizations campaign for the ratification of Raposa Serra do Sol, and have filed a joint petition denouncing the situation to the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights. In May, Joênia Wapichana, the first indigenous woman lawyer in Brazil and CIR’s attorney, was granted the Reebok Human Rights Award.

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