Social movements and organizations once again demanded speed in the identification and accountability of those involved in the episode known as the Rio Abacaxis Massacre, which took place in August 2020, in the region of the Abacaxis and Marimari rivers, between Borba and Nova Olinda do Norte, about 130 kilometers from Manaus (AM). Four riverside dwellers and two Munduruku indigenous people were shot dead in August 2020, during a police action triggered by the Amazonas Public Security Secretariat. The action took place days after the then executive secretary of the state Social Promotion Fund, Saulo Moysés Rezende Costa, was shot while fishing in the Abacaxis River region. At the time, the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) reported that Costa was fishing with a group of friends near a riverside community. After a disagreement with local leaders who demanded that the group leave the area because they did not have an environmental license to fish in the area, Costa was shot in the shoulder. According to the state secretariat for Public Security, shortly afterwards, Costa filed a police report in which he reported that the people who approached him and his colleagues were carrying firearms, knives and torches. A week later, the state secretary of Public Security launched a police operation with the justification of combating drug trafficking in the Abacaxis River region. According to the folder, on the second day of the action, part of the police force deployed to the area was ambushed and two military police officers – Third Sergeant Manoel Wagner Silva Souza and Corporal Márcio Carlos de Souza – were killed. The attack on the security forces motivated the Amazonian government to send police reinforcements for the operation. Governor Wilson Lima at the time promised rigor in investigating the crimes and, according to himself, ordered the then commander-in-chief of the Military Police, Colonel Ayrton Norte, to travel to the location and only return to Manaus “when he has an effective response from the government”. what happened”. Demand for measures From then on, according to the movements and social organizations that signed the note released this Wednesday (17), the security forces began a “true extermination operation”, which resulted in the shooting deaths of four riverside dwellers. and two Munduruku Indians, in addition to two alleged disappearances that have not yet been clarified. “The projected retaliation [das forças de segurança amazonenses] resulted in a disastrous armed action, carried out by a militia made up of police officers without uniform, among which two were killed and two others were injured”, emphasize the signatory entities of the document. According to social movements and organizations, in addition to the deaths and alleged disappearances, dozens of residents of the region were attacked and tortured during the two police raids. Investigation In mid-August 2020, the Ministry of Justice and Public Security responded to a request from the Federal Police (PF) and authorized the displacement of personnel from the National Public Security Force to Nova Olinda do Norte, with the mission to participate in the actions necessary “for the preservation of public order and the safety of [integridade] of people and property”. The PF, in turn, launched an inquiry to determine the facts and identify those responsible for the deaths, assaults and other crimes. More than two and a half years later, the PF indicted, on April 28 of this year, the former secretary of Public Security of Amazonas, Colonel Louismar Bonates, and the former commander of the Military Police, Colonel Airton Norte, accused of involvement in the slaughter. According to information released by the G1 news portal, investigators concluded that state troops commanded by Airton Norte invaded houses without a court order, tortured residents and killed indigenous and riverside people. When consulted by Agência Brasil, the PF limited itself to answering that, as the investigations are being carried out in secret, it could not comment on the matter. The report also consulted the Secretariat of Public Security, but has not yet received a response. We were unable to contact Bonates and Norte, or their lawyers. Hope In the note presented this morning, at the Curia of the Archdiocese of Manaus, representatives of the various social entities that follow the case mention having received with “relief and hope” the news of the indictment of “two former members of the highest security leadership” from the Amazon. “We recognize the relevance of these indictments because we understand that the hand of Justice is starting to touch the communities of this region, after so much suffering present in the bodies, souls and memory of those who lived through this massacre”, support the organizations and movements, demanding the deepening investigations and punishment for those involved. “There will only be justice if the current defendants are regularly held accountable in accordance with the law and the Constitution. There will only be justice if the other violators are identified, individualized and also indicted in the ongoing investigation. For this, it is essential that all necessary judicial measures are granted to allow impartial investigations, with the collaboration of the Civil Police of the State of Amazonas, which carried out investigations and may have evidence capable of contributing to the ongoing investigation of the Federal Police. ” The entities also demand compliance with the court decision that determined that a mobile base of the PF be installed in the region, as a way to contain the illegal activity of miners and other intimidation, threats and aggressions against the indigenous and riverside people. “This is a region of conflicts of different natures and it is the duty of the State to guarantee the safety of the population that has been victims of violence and asks for the presence and protection of the State”, said Tiago Maiká Schwade, from Dabukuri Laboratory – Planning and Management of the Territory in the Amazon, from the Federal University of Amazonas. Present at the presentation of the press release, the archbishop of Manaus, cardinal Leonardo Ulrich Steiner mentioned that the initiative of social movements and organizations more than two weeks after the news of the indictment of Bonates and Norte became public seeks to make society aware of the importance that justice is done. “I am not part [do grupo de entidades sociais signatários da nota], but the Archdiocese has supported the collective, including being present in the region. I emphasize that there was an indictment, now more evidence is needed and then the legal process. There are several steps [legais a serem cumpridos] and what we hope is that the massacre is investigated. Justice needs to be done”, commented the archbishop.
Agência Brasil
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