Victims of a series of attacks in recent months, the indigenous Guarani Kaiowá people received support from 86 academic entities, civil society organizations and human rights defense groups on Tuesday night (7). The solidarity note denounces the “truculent approach by the Military Police of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul”, which led to the arrest of three indigenous leaders last Friday (3).
Released by the Observatory of Autonomous Community Protocols, the note is signed by important entities, such as the Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil (APIB), Dom Evaristo Arns Commission for the Defense of Human Rights, Grupo Prerogativas, National Association of Graduate Studies and Research in Social Sciences, among others (access the full document here).
The case occurred in the city of Rio Brilhante (MS), where the Indigenous Land (TI) Brilhantepeguá is located, which is in the identification phase for demarcation and homologation. The community occupies a small strip of 30 hectares of the area and demands the demarcation of the entire TI. The dispute has dragged on since 2007, with several episodes of violence.
According to the report of the Committee of Solidarity between the Peoples and the Observatory of Kunhangue Aty Guasu, the indigenous community carried out, in the morning of the 3rd, the retake of the tekoha Laranjeira Nhanderu, which is part of TI.
Read more: Another bud from the recovery of Laranjeira Nhanderu germinates in ancestral Guarani Kaiowá territory
In the morning, civil and military police arrived at the scene and, without a warrant, acted to intimidate the indigenous people, even preventing Funai agents from entering the area. Three people were arrested: Mboy Jeguá, adviser to Kunhangue Aty Guasu; Ava Rendy, adviser to Aty Guasu; and Ava Jeguaka, counselor of the Resumption Aty Jovem. The three received provisional release on the 4th, after spending the night in detention.
“We believe that such arrest is illegal because there was no court order for repossession and the context of the legitimate occupation of land claimed in the identification phase for demarcation was not taken into account, with the competence of federal justice to intervene and mediate all acts of the process, in the face of such conflicts”, say the entities in the note.
“Given the state’s omission and slowness in complying with the constitutional commandment for the demarcation of indigenous lands, the land conflict worsens, added to the orchestrated action of the State Department of Justice and Public Security of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul to the interests of agribusiness. Such actions constitute serious violations of human and fundamental rights of indigenous peoples.”
:: How agribusiness surrounded the Guarani Kaiowá and why the indigenous people are trying to retake their lands ::
The note recalls the episode known as the Guapo’y Massacre, in the municipality of Amambai, a “disastrous and cowardly operation” that resulted in the murder of the indigenous person Vitor Fernandes on June 24, 2022, and the murder of the leader Vitorino Sanchez, in September 2022.
According to the entities, “systematic violence, attacks and attempts against members of an ethnic group with the intention of destroying it” constitute the crime of genocide. “The Brazilian State needs to be held accountable, implement guarantees to prevent the crime of genocide and the non-repetition of previous attacks”.
One of the organizers of the note, Liana Amin Lima da Silva, professor of Human Rights and Borders at the Faculty of Law and International Relations of the Federal University of Grande Dourados (FADIR/ PPGFDH/ UFGD) and coordinator of the Observatory, pointed out to the Brazil in fact that the police justified the arrests by saying that the leaders had committed “resistance and disobedience”.
“What the Guarani Kaiowá people do most is resist, surviving without their tekora (land) demarcated.”
Liana Amin points out that the mobilization was quick, given the indignation that the arrests caused. “In 24 hours we already had more than 50 entities wanting to participate”, she says.
The specialist also states that the greatest fear of the entities is that “these illegal operations will continue and spill more indigenous blood. Our fear is that the state will not fulfill its duty to prevent the crime of genocide.”
Editing: Rodrigo Durão Coelho
