The Ministries of Justice and Public Security and Indigenous Peoples launched, this Monday (5th), in Brasília, a public notice worth R$ 3 million to finance sustainable development projects in indigenous territories threatened by drug trafficking and organized crime. The event takes place on World Environment Day (June 5). The same date marks the first year of the murders of the indigenist and Funai licensed employee, Bruno Pereira, and of the British journalist Dom Phillips, in the Javari Valley, west of the state of Amazonas. The announcement will be coordinated by the National Secretariat for Policy on Drugs (Senad) of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, which, for the first time, builds a policy aimed at indigenous populations, according to the secretary of Senad, Marta Machado. The secretary listed the consequences of the actions of organized crime on indigenous peoples, which need to be urgently prevented and combated. “The worsening of this situation imposes on indigenous populations a series of violence, threats, coercion, assassinations of leaders, violence and sexual exploitation, forced labor in illicit activities, co-option of young people for trafficking, undue availability of drugs in their territories. The advance of criminal organizations on indigenous lands also impacts indigenous health issues, such as diseases and disorders associated with the abuse of alcohol and other drugs”. National Secretary for Drug Policies and Asset Management, Marta Machado, says this is the first time that the secretariat has launched an action aimed at the indigenous population – Antônio Cruz/ Agência Brasil New public notice Launched to reduce the impact of drug trafficking on indigenous populations, the public notice will fund the work of indigenous and community organizations. There are three lines of action:: -Dealing with situations of social vulnerability of young people and indigenous adults, through sustainable income generation and social participation; -Prevention of symbolic physical sexual violence against indigenous women or mitigation of the effects of this violence with actions to access rights for protection, support and shelter -Reduction and prevention of territorial invasions by drug traffickers and other criminal networks. “We understand that the repression actions that have been resumed and conducted by the police must go hand in hand with the actions of access to rights and social and human development that strengthen communities and make them more resilient”, clarifies Marta Machado. The president of the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai), Joenia Wapichana, present at the event, recognized the historical fragility in protecting indigenous territories against drug trafficking and said she understood that Funai could contribute to the construction of indigenous policies within the government network. “Who else can guide all these project proposals, as the only federal indigenist agency in our country, which has expertise in the diversity of indigenous peoples, but also has local action? Funai, in this government, has been putting itself on the table for dialogue and also for proposals”, pointed out the president of Funai. President of Funai, Joenia Wapichana, recognizes the historical fragility of protecting indigenous territories against drug trafficking -by Antônio Cruz/ Agência Brasil National Strategy and Remedying the Impacts of Drug Trafficking on Indigenous Populations and Ethnoterritories. The strategy is the result of the articulation of nine ministries and aims to protect and guarantee the safety of indigenous populations and traditional communities, in addition to expanding access to rights by communities and, finally, repairing the violence suffered by these groups, related to trafficking in drugs and activities of criminal organizations. Senad secretary Marta Machado, citing environmentalist Ailton Krenak, ratified the conflicts experienced more strongly in recent years. “There has never been peace for indigenous peoples. The invasion of their territories never ceased. But, in recent years, the growth and internalization of the action of criminal organizations and drug trafficking gave rise to the worsening of this situation”. The director of the Department for Territorial Protection and Isolated Indigenous Peoples and Recent Contact of the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples (MPI), anthropologist Beatriz de Almeida Matos, widow of indigenist Bruno Pereira, who died in June 2022, understands that drug trafficking in the territories Indigenous peoples is a national problem, which has spread. But, that the edict announced this Monday, could reduce the problem. Beatriz Matos understands that drug trafficking in indigenous territories has spread – Antônio Cruz/ Agência Brasil For Beatriz, the creation of the Management Committee of the National Policy for Territorial and Environmental Management of Indigenous Lands, in April this year, during the Terra Livre Camp, underscores the performance of the MPI in the search for solutions. “The committee places the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples at the center of this definition, creation, reflection and monitoring of these policies aimed at indigenous peoples, including public security policies. Which is unprecedented in the country.” Homage At the beginning of the ceremony, a video was shown with the Brazilian indigenist Bruno Pereira singing the indigenous song “”Wahanararai”, in the Kanamari language, alongside indigenous people, in the middle of the forest. In addition to Bruno and Dom Phillips, the images honored others defenders of human rights and the environment killed in northern Brazil, such as the rubber tapper leader Chico Mendes, in 1988, and the North American Catholic missionary, Dorothy Mae Stang, in 2005. Beatriz Matos thanked the tribute to the dead and highlighted the fight of them for promoting and respecting human rights. “I think this is the true justice that Bruno, Dom, Maxciel expect [Pereira dos Santos], and all those mentioned, such as Chico Mendes, and Dorothy Stang, as fighters for the human rights of indigenous peoples. True justice is not only non-impunity, that is, that the crime is actually punished, but also that we manage to truly enable the safety and life of these peoples and the people who work with them”.
Agência Brasil
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