To contain the escalation of violence that plagues the community of the Tekoha Jevy Indigenous Land, known as Aldeia Rio Pequeno, located in the municipality of Paraty, in the south of the state of Rio de Janeiro, the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) filed a public civil action to ensure the right to security of indigenous peoples.
In the action, the MPF requests that the state of Rio de Janeiro “promote the qualification and training of its security forces in Angra dos Reis and Paraty in order to deal with specific issues related to the Guarani people, such as traditions, customs and rights “.
The National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai) must, together with the Union and the state, prepare cooperation protocols and communication mechanisms to clearly establish the respective responsibilities and coordinate in order to avoid conflicts of attributions in relation to the safety of indigenous peoples. members of the Tekoha Jevy Indigenous Land.
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In addition, the Foundation should create advisory councils or act in the formation of community security teams that will necessarily have the participation of the Guarani people of the village of Rio Pequeno in the decision-making process.
Still according to the action brought by the MPF, the Union and the state of Rio de Janeiro, in turn, must create a mechanism for monitoring and continuous evaluation of the performance of the security forces in the Tekoha Jevy Indigenous Land in order to identify problems and take measures to correct them, as well as create specialized nuclei on indigenous issues at the Federal Police Station in Angra dos Reis and at the Military Police Battalion of Angra dos Reis and at the 2nd Independent Company of Military Police in Paraty.
episodes of violence
Last Monday (23), an unidentified man invaded the community and threatened its members, shouting: “I’m going to kill an indigenous person, I’m really going to kill them”. The case was registered at the 167th DP. This episode adds to several other cases of violence that the people of Aldeia Rio Pequeno have been facing in recent years.
In January 2018, the region suffered a crime of triple homicide, in which a Guarani indigenous João Mendonça Martins was victimized, possibly related to the land demarcation process, according to members of the village; it was also revealed that there were threats to the local indigenous people.
“The land that is back”
The Tekoha Jevy Indigenous Land, where a population of 32 Guarani Ñandeva lives, is also known as the Guarani Land of the Rio Pequeno, Second or identification study, the land is traditionally occupied by Guarani Mbya and Guarani Ñandeva families, two groups of the Guarani people, by meio of marriage alliances.
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In the 1960s, the area became the target of invasions by non-indigenous peoples and violent attacks, which led to the expulsion of the Guarani Mbya families living there and the confinement of the Guarani Ñandeva. In Guarani language, tekoha jevy means “the earth that is back”
Source: BdF Rio de Janeiro
Editing: Jacqueline Deister
