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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

No Dialogue by Brazilian Government Concerning Decree

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

2/9/96

OVERVIEW & SOURCE

The following item from a new Brazilian list server details the

continued stonewalling of the Brazilian government on their

recently announced decree which sets back by years demarcation of

Indian lands. This will have grave consequences for rainforests

and the local peoples.

g.b.

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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

/* Written 3:56 PM Feb 7, 1996 by glen@irn.org in

igc:rainfor.genera */

/* ---------- "indian lands Brasil - news" ---------- */

From: Glen Switkes <glen@irn.org>

From: sejup@ax.apc.org

Subject: Decree: No dialogue

Lines: 119

Sender: sejup-news-l@ax.apc.org

Precedence: bulk

Status: R

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NEWS FROM BRAZIL supplied by SEJUP (Servico Brasileiro de Justica

e Paz).

Number 215, February 07, 1996.

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INDIGENOUS ISSUES

- Decree 1775 still draws widespread national and

international criticism.

Decree 1775 which was signed by President Fernando Henrique

Cardoso on January 08 last, facilitates the invasion and

contestation of indigenous lands by such groups as ranchers,

loggers, miners and other so-called 'interested' groups. Since

then the opposition of Brazilian and international human rights

groups to the Decree have been widespread. In recent editions of

NEWS FROM BRAZIL and of the newsletter of the Indigenous

Missionary Council (CIMI) found in this conference, this

opposition has been extensively described.

In recent days the Coalition in Support of Amazonian Peoples

- based in Washington and representing 80 environmental and human

rights groups, sent a strongly worded protest to President

Cardoso in which they urged him to revoke the Decree. The

Coalition counts amongst its members most of the well known US

environmental organizations such as the National Wildlife

Federation, the Environmental Defense Fund, the International

Rivers Network and the Serra Club. In the letter to President

Cardoso the Coalition claimed that the Decree "represents a huge

step backward which will likely lead to the violation of the

rights of indigenous peoples mandated by the Constitution of

1988...(and) will likely result in the escalation of conflicts

over land and natural resources which will threaten the survival

of indigenous populations in Brazil".

The Coalition plans to follow the example set by Brazilian

indigenous and human rights groups in recent weeks and is likely

to lobby multinational agencies funding development projects

linked to indigenous areas in Brazil asking them to withhold at

least temporarily, funding for such projects. Indigenous groups

in Brazil fear that such funds could be used against indian

interests. The Coalition also sent a copy of the letter to the US

government. The effectiveness of recent international lobbying on

this question can be measured by the fact that Brazilian Minister

for Justice, Nelson Jobim, plans to visit European countries in

March to put the government point of view to organizations,

government officials and the general public on this issue.

If Minister Jobim is interested in influencing international

opinion about the Decree, it seems as if he considers dialogue on

the question within Brazil unnecessary and even harmful.

According to a report in the "Folha de Sao Paulo" of February 06,

the minister during a public debate in the auditorium of the

Folha on February 05 stated that the government does not wish to

have dialogue with the NGOs who are criticizing the Decree. He

went on to say that such Brazilian organizations are making

'noise' in the international campaign to withold financing which

could be misused in the demarcation of the indigenous lands.

"These groups are not interested in solving the indigenous

problem. They are interested in creating problems and we will

have no dialogue with those who cause problems" commented

Minister Jobim.

On February 05, the Environment Commission of the Bar

(Lawyers) Association (OAB) of Sao Paulo approved a motion of

protest against the Decree which it plans to send to the

President, government ministers, ambassadors of G7 countries and

to the Interamerican Commission of Human Rights. The OAB also

decided to contest the constitutional validity of the Decree in

the courts.

A document of the Articulation Council of the Indigenous

Peoples and Organizations of Brazil (CAPOIB) of February 06

requests the World Bank and the G7 countries to suspend

temporarily grants which they plan to make to Brazil to be used

in the demarcation of indigenous lands. The document refers

specifically to the Indigenous Lands Project (Projeto Terras

Indigenas), Planofloro and Prodeagro. CAPOIB represents over a

hundred indigenous groups in Brazil.

The CAPOIB document claims that "since it took office over a

year ago, the government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso has been

putting in place a deliberate policy of reduction of indigenous

territories". It then goes on to document several examples of

where this policy has seriously affected indigenous groups since

the beginning of 1995.

The "Folha de Sao Paulo" of February 07 reports that within

the next week the World Bank plans to announce its position

regarding Decree 1775. According to the World Bank representative

in Brazil, Dennis Mahar, this announcement will influence the

decision of the Bank to give or to suspend grants of

approximately US $36 million destined for projects in indigenous

areas. According to Mr. Mahar the decision will also take into

account a study being made at the moment by the Bank's juridical

department in the US.

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