Ministry of Indigenous Peoples says time frame is “genocide”

The Ministry of Indigenous Peoples (MPI) released a note this Tuesday (30) in which it classified the approval of the timeframe by federal deputies as a “legislated genocide”. The Chamber of Deputies approved tonight the bill that establishes the timeframe for the demarcation of indigenous lands. The bill now goes to the Senate. According to the approved project, traditional lands subject to demarcation will be those occupied by indigenous peoples until October 5, 1988, the date of promulgation of the Constitution. After that date, the areas cannot be demarcated. “PL 490 represents a legislated genocide because it directly affects isolated indigenous peoples, authorizing deliberate access to territories where people live who have not yet had any contact with society, not even with other indigenous peoples, and it is up to the Brazilian State to also act for the protection of indigenous peoples. territories where these peoples live”, says the note. On social media, Minister Sonia Guajajara stated that the PL is “a serious attack on indigenous peoples and the environment. We keep fighting for life. Still in the Senate, we will dialogue to avoid negotiating our lives in exchange for profit and destruction. We will not give up!” The day was marked by protests by indigenous peoples and demonstrations by various entities against the project. In the morning, Guarani indigenous people, who live on Pico do Jaraguá, in São Paulo, blocked the Bandeirantes Highway, at km 20, towards São Paulo, to protest. “Backing off, for us, is not an option. We are going to resist, we are going to take a stand, and if they try to repossess any indigenous land, it is necessary to understand that they will have to take our lives. The territory is what we are. If we have to resist, if we have to fight, if we have to fall so that others can continue to fight, we will. Retreat, for us, is not an option. Regardless of any threat posed to our lives, there have been more than 500 years of this violence, more than 500 years of this ignorance and it will not be in this generation, in my generation, that we will bow down”, said Thiago Karai Djekupe, leaders of the Jaraguá indigenous land, to Agência Brasil. The Military Police (PM) used gas bombs and water jets against the demonstrators. The United Nations (UN) Office for Human Rights in South America released an alert demanding that Brazilian authorities take “urgent measures in favor of these populations, in accordance with international human rights standards”. According to the agency, initiatives like this, by the National Congress, “risk the protection of indigenous peoples in the country.” The international organization Human Rights Watch also expressed great concern with the vote on the time frame. In a statement, the organization said that “the Brazilian Congress should reject a bill that adopts an arbitrary time frame for the recognition of indigenous lands.” Employees of the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai) held a vigil in protest in the early afternoon.

Agência Brasil