One year after the murder of journalist Dom Phillips and indigenist Bruno Pereira, civil society organizations demanded accountability from those involved in the crime, as well as protection measures for journalists, indigenous peoples and human rights defenders working in the Amazon. The appeal took place during an event this Monday morning (5) at the Vladimir Herzog Institute. On June 5 of last year, indigenist Bruno Pereira and journalist Dom Phillips were killed in an ambush on the Itacoaí River, in the municipality of Atalaia do Norte, located on the triple Amazon border. Ten days later, their bodies were found dismembered, burned and hidden in the forest (see timeline). In a note released at the event, the coalition of human rights defenders states that “the responses that the Brazilian State gave to this barbaric crime and to the situation of extreme insecurity in which indigenous peoples, human rights defenders and communicators who work in the Amazon is insufficient”. The coalition is formed by the organizations Artigo 19 Brazil and South America, the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji), the Association of Education Journalists (Jeduca), the Association of Digital Journalism (Ajor), the National Federation of Journalists (Fenaj), the Vladimir Institute Herzog (IVH), Open Word Institute, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Tornavoz Institute. Arthur Romeu, from Reporters Without Borders, at a press conference A Year of the Assassination of Dom Philips and Bruno Pereira – what is the response of the Brazilian State? – Rovena Rosa/Agência Brasil The entities denounce that at least 11 indigenous defenders and communicators remain at high risk and that, despite having been included in the Program for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Communicators and Environmentalists (PPDDH), the measures offered by the state are unable to respond to the threats they have received and the violence that reigns in the Amazon rainforest. “The murder of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira is the most brutal manifestation of censorship, it is an attack against freedom of the press, an attack against the environment, an attack against democracy, it is an attack against a project for the future of this country . We all lose when the voices that warn us about the destruction of the forest and its people are murdered”, said Artur Romeu, director of the organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), during the event. Survey RSF He pointed out that occurrences like this are a direct attack against the right of access to information of the entire Brazilian society and the world. Preliminary data from the Observatory of Violations of Press Freedom in the Amazon, collected since the death of Bruno and Dom by RSF, were disclosed at the event: there were 62 cases of violations between July 2022 and May 2023. Among the victims, 40 are men , 18 are women, and the rest are entire reporting teams or media outlets as a whole. There were also 32 attempts to prevent journalistic coverage, through intimidation, harassment and damage to equipment or physical aggression (these occurred in 13 of the 32 cases). “It is by no means an isolated case, we are talking about a systemic, structured scenario of violence against voices that denounce violations, abuses and destruction of the forest and the environment and the peoples who live in the Amazon region,” he said. Romeo. The survey also showed nine threats; four abusive lawsuits or arbitrary court decisions; five death threats; three invasions or attacks against the headquarters of the media; a shooting attack against a journalist, among other violations. About 57% of perpetrators are private agents. Among the most common profiles are far-right protesters, organized crime and companies in the mining and mining, agribusiness and tourism sectors. The vehicles most vulnerable to violations during the survey period were those covering politics, the environment, human rights and public safety. “A society that does not guarantee free and safe conditions for the exercise of journalistic activity, in defense of fundamental rights and of its original peoples, is doomed to erase its past and prevent the construction of its future”, concludes the coalition’s note. CIDH Lawyer Raquel Cruz Lima at an event at the Vladimir Herzog Institute Rovena Rosa/Agência Brasil The risk scenario for local defenders and communicators, in the context of the murder of Dom and Bruno, is the target of precautionary measures granted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH). The lawyer for Artigo 19, Raquel da Cruz Lima, who is monitoring the unfolding of the measures, explained that, shortly after the news of the disappearance of Dom and Bruno, a group of organizations dedicated to the defense of freedom of expression and of the press, of human rights and indigenous peoples met to ask the commission for a precautionary measure that had, at that time, the objective of protecting the life and personal integrity of the British journalist and the Brazilian indigenist. “This measure was granted, which means that, since June 11 of last year, Brazil must provide clarification in the sense of indicating how it has sought to adopt measures to clarify the facts of the case and to guarantee that they are not repeated”, he said. Raquel. The coalition denounces that the Brazilian government has resisted the installation of a mechanism to deal with such occurrences and does not provide information on what is being done. Since October of the year, the IACHR has also demanded that Brazil adopt measures to protect the life and personal integrity of 11 more people linked to the Union of Indigenous Peoples of Vale do Javari (Univaja). The lawyer explained that indigenous leaders, from the first moment, were very involved in denouncing the disappearance and also raising material elements, seeking information and evidence, which made the degree of vulnerability of these people increase. “The international repercussions of this case made the people who were directly linked to denouncing it and many of them who were already threatened, as well as Bruno even before the murder, become even more vulnerable”, she said. The lawyer draws attention to the fact that, since January 26, the Brazilian government has not provided any information to the Inter-American Commission regarding the situation in the Vale do Javari. “Since last year, Brazil has had an obligation to adopt measures to protect the lives of these 11 people, to follow up with an investigation that brings effective information about what the facts were, that clarifies the entire chain of responsibilities linked to the death of Dom and Bruno. , but this whole year, on no occasion when it was charged, did the Brazilian government offer any information to even say what has been done”, he said.
Agência Brasil
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