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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

Brazil's Indigenous Land Grab Continues, Update on Decree #1775

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

5/15/96

OVERVIEW & SOURCE by EE

Folowing is Rainforest Action Network's updating of the tragic situation in

Brazil, where fully 1/3 of indigenous lands are being "reviewed." An email

and snail mail address are provided for the Brazilian Ministry of Justice.

Please help determine the fate of the Amazon and its inhabitants. You'll

be glad you did :) This comes from RAN's WWW site at

http://www.ran.org/ran/

g.b.

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Decree #1775 Takes its Toll

Amazon Program Update

May, 1996

The controversial Decree #1775, signed into law by Brazilian President

Fernando Henrique Cardoso on January 8 has already dealt a severe blow to

Brazil's indigenous rights. The Decree allowed private interests, and

state and local governments to challenge the demarcation of indigenous

reserves. By the April 8 deadline, Brazil's National Foundation for

Indian Affairs (FUNAI), which is in charge of processing the appeals,

received 531 claims from miners, loggers, ranchers, and government

officials, targeting 83 different Indian areas.

About 250,000 indigenous people live in Brazil, representing 215 ethnic

groups and 170 different languages. They live in 526 territories

nationwide, which together comprise an area of 190 million acres... twice

the size of California. About 188 million acres of this land is inside the

Brazilian Amazon, in the states of Acre, Amapa, Amazonas, Para, Mato

Grosso, Maranhao, Rondonia, Roraima, and Tocantins. There may also be 50

or more indigenous groups still living in the depths of the rainforest that

have never had contact with the outside world.

Since about 65% of the Amazon Basin is in Brazil, and 188 million acres of

that land is the ancestral homeland of Brazil's indigenous peoples, it is a

crucial strategy for both rainforest preservation and human rights to make

sure this land is put formally into indigenous control. However, 125

million acres of this land has not been demarcated as indigenous territory,

and much of it is jeopardized by appeals under Decree #1775.

FUNAI tossed some of these appeals aside immediately because the government

already recognized the challenged land as securely demarcated. Such was

the case with challenges to the hotly contested Yanomami territory, where

strong mining interests had promoted taking the land away from the Indians

by force.

Besides challenges by the usual suspects--miners, loggers, and ranchers--

several appeals were filed by state governments. The Amazonian states

of Rondonia and Para challenged all indigenous territories within their

borders whose demarcation was incomplete. This is ironic, since Rondonia

received $167 million from the World Bank earmarked for Indian land

protection and use-zoning.

Challenges to indigenous land must include anthropological proof that the

land in question is not ancestral Indian land. According to Marcio

Santilli--former President of FUNAI, and executive secretary for the

Socioenvironmental Institute--not a single filed challenge includes the

necessary studies.

FUNAI has 60 days to evaluate all challenges and make recommendations to

the Minister of Justice, Nelson Jobin, who then will take 30-120 days to

make final decisions.

Jobin, author of Decree #1775, argued that the Decree's challenge mechanism

will expedite the demarcation of Indian land by formally addressing

objections to the process. This is twisted logic, but we will see if he

lives up to his good intentions.

The international community, and environmental and human rights groups in

Brazil, want to see the immediate demarcation of the uncontested 118

territories. There are no longer any constitutional obstructions to the

process, and the needed funds are available through the World Banks' Pilot

Program for the Amazon.

Article 231 of Brazil's constitution guarantees indigenous people control

of their traditional lands, and rights to secure their cultural identity.

Jobin should honor this promise when weighing his decisions on the Decree

#1775 challenges.

Please write or e-mail to his excellency, Minister of Justice, Dr. Nelson

Jobin, and ask him to order the immediate demarcation of all indigenous

territories, and to make sure the human rights of Brazilian indigenous

populations are respected.

Dr. Nelson Jobin Ministro da Justica

Esplanada dos Ministerios, Bl. T

Brasilia, DF - CEP: 70.064-900

BRAZIL

E-mail:njobim@ax.apc.org

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