The federal government determined the creation of an interministerial working group in charge of proposing a solution to a territorial dispute that has dragged on since the 1980s. Comprised of representatives of 12 federal agencies, the Air Force and quilombola communities, the working group ( GT) must find ways for the government to grant the remaining communities the title of ownership of the lands, previously occupied by their ancestors, without creating obstacles to the operations of the existing rocket launch center on the site, about 100 kilometers from São Luís. The decree establishing the GT was published in the Official Gazette of the Union this Wednesday (26), the day on which the Inter-American Court of Human Rights begins to judge the complaint that the Brazilian State violated the rights of quilombola families by expelling them from their lands, in the 1980s, to build the Alcântara Base, within the scope of the Brazilian Space Program. Signed by the acting president, Geraldo Alckmin, by the minister Rui Costa (Casa Civil) and by the deputy attorney general of the Union, Flávio Roman, Decree 11.502 establishes that, in addition to proposing alternatives for territorial titling, the working group should also formulate a proposal for a normative act that regulates the Protocol of Prior, Free and Informed Consultations to the Remaining Communities of Quilombo de Alcântara. The working group will have a period of one year to present the final report, considering principles such as respect for the self-determination of Quilombola communities, as well as their right to territorial integrity and the full effectiveness of their social, economic and cultural rights and the way of traditional quilombola life, as well as direct social participation in the elaboration and execution of public policies that directly affect them. The WG will be composed of a representative of the Attorney General’s Office (AGU), who will coordinate the work, and of the Ministries of the Civil House; Science, Technology and Innovation; Defense; Agrarian Development and Family Agriculture; Human and Citizenship Rights; Racial equality; Foreign Affairs and the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, in addition to the Brazilian Space Agency; the command of the Air Force; the Palmares Cultural Foundation; of the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra) and by four representatives of the remaining Quilombo communities of Alcântara. Understand the case The Alcântara Launch Center was built near the capital São Luís in the 1980s by the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), as a base for launching rockets. At the time of construction, 312 quilombola families, from 32 villages, were removed from the site and resettled in seven agrovillages. Some groups remained in the territory and, according to the complainants, suffer from the constant threat of expulsion to expand the base. In 2001, representatives of quilombola communities in Maranhão, the Movement of People Affected by the Base of Alcântara (Mabe), Global Justice, the Maranhão Society of Human Rights (SMDH), the Federation of Agricultural Workers of the State of Maranhão (Fetaema), the Alcântara Rural Workers Union (STTR) and the Federal Public Defender’s Office (DPU) filed a complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The group accuses the Brazilian State of having committed violations with the installation of the center, with expropriation and compulsory removal of quilombola families. According to the complaint, the loss of territory had an impact on the right of these communities to culture, food, education, health and free movement. In addition, the quilombolas were not granted definitive property titles. In 2004, the Palmares Foundation certified the territory. Incra identified and delimited the area in 2008. Five years after the complaint was presented, the commission considered it admissible. In a 2020 report, after hearings held in 2008 and 2019, the group recommended that the Brazilian government issue the title to the traditional territory, prior consultation with the quilombolas about the agreement signed by Brazil and the United States (which allows space activities by North American companies). at Alcantâra Base, called the technological safeguards agreement) in the previous year, financial compensation for those removed and a public apology. The recommendations were not followed by the Brazilian government. Thus, the commission took the case to the International Court in January 2022.
Agência Brasil
Folha Nobre - Desde 2013 - ©