Government creates group to fight crime in Vale do Javari

On the eve of the first anniversary of the deaths of indigenist Bruno Pereira and journalist Dom Phillips, the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples created a working group to promote security and fight crime in the Javari Valley, in Amazonas, where the two were murdered. The resolution with the measure was published this Friday (2) in the Official Gazette. The group will be made up of ten ministries, which will work in partnership with the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai) and the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) to propose concrete measures to combat violence and guarantee territorial security. of the indigenous peoples living in the area. Entities of indigenous peoples will also participate in the discussions. The measures under discussion are intended to cover both the prevention of crimes in the indigenous land and to facilitate the expulsion of invaders from the region. The following bodies and entities will form part of the working group: • Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, which will coordinate the group; • Attorney General of the Union; • Civil House of the Presidency of the Republic; • Defense Ministry; • Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship; • Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger; • Ministry of Justice and Public Security; • Ministry of Environment and Climate Change; • Ministry of Planning and Budget; • Ministry of Health, through its Special Secretariat for Indigenous Health; • National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai); • Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) The group will also have a representative from the following entities, without voting rights: • Federal Public Ministry; • Union Public Defender; • Articulation of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil; • Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Javari Valley; Next Monday (5), the murder of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira completes one year. The police authorities placed under suspicion at least eight people, for their possible participation in the homicides and in the concealment of the corpses. Bruno and Phillips were killed in early June 2022, while traveling by boat through the Vale do Javari region. Located close to the Brazilian border with Peru and Colombia, the region is home to the Vale do Javari Indigenous Land, the second largest in the country, with more than 8.5 million hectares. The area is also home to the largest number of uncontacted or recently contacted indigenous peoples in the world. At the end of October 2022, the alleged mastermind of the murder, Rubens Villar Pereira, was released on bail in the amount of R$15,000. Last week, the ex-president of Funai Marcelo Xavier was indicted for his omission in the case.

Agência Brasil