PF launches inquiry to investigate alleged genocide against Yanomami

After motivating the federal government to declare a Public Health Emergency of National Importance, the health and humanitarian crisis affecting the communities of the Yanomami Indigenous Land, in Roraima, became a police matter. At the request of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, the Federal Police (PF) launched an investigation to investigate the possible practice of genocide, failure to provide assistance, environmental crimes, as well as other illegal acts against the Yanomami. The investigation is in charge of the PF Superintendence in Roraima and will be conducted in secrecy of Justice. Last Sunday (21), the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino, announced, on his personal Twitter account, that he would officiate the PF to investigate the “strong indications of genocide and other crimes” related “to the criminal suffering imposed to the Yanomami”. According to Law No. 2,889, anyone who kills or seriously injures the physical or mental integrity of members of any national, ethnic, racial or religious group with the intent to destroy it (the group) is committing the crime of genocide. Likewise, those who intentionally submit the group to conditions of existence capable of causing its total or partial physical destruction may suffer the punishments provided for by law; takes measures to prevent births within the group or forcibly transfers children from one group to another. And also those who incite, directly and publicly, someone to commit any of the crimes. Contamination and hunger The Yanomami Indigenous Land is the largest in the country, in terms of territory, and suffers from the invasion of miners. Contamination of land and water by mercury used in mining impacts the availability of food in communities. In recent years, the situation of contamination and hunger led to the death of 570 children, of which 505 were less than 1 year old. Last year, 11,530 cases of malaria were confirmed in the region of the Yanomami Special Indigenous Health District (Dsei-Y). The most affected age groups are those over 50, followed by the 18-49 and 5-11 age groups. On Saturday, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and a delegation of federal authorities visited Boa Vista, where Yanomami whose health condition requires hospital care are being transferred. On the occasion, Lula pledged to fight illegalities in indigenous lands and criticized the previous government for its inattention to the peoples of the region. The Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sonia Guajajara, also called for accountability. “We came here in this delegation to verify this situation and also to take all the appropriate measures to solve this problem”, the minister told journalists.

Agência Brasil