1 12 1 https://www.abyayalanews.org/files/original/3c576cbd8f68f6e913fc9b00f6eea014.pdf 46733ff34e58b6efb1c9738a103c5ed8 PDF Text Text B RAZ I L Decree 177S:An Attack on Indian Lands in Brazil "Decree 1775 is more than a setback: it's a death sentence for many Indigenous groups . .._ GOlAB (Council of Indigenous Peoples and Organizations of Brazil) ndigenous organizations tmd their allies initialed a major c~mp~ign of resistance ofler Brn<illan President Fernando Henrique Cardoso signed Dtaee 1775, responsible for t"" demarc:nion of lnd1a.n lands. on j~nuary &h. 1996. As the cherished baby of Minister of justice Nelson jobim, Decree 1775 oiTers a 90-dly ptriod for "Slates and I mumdpaliuu containing the :uea to be demarcated, and Ol""r inter61ed panies" to exercise the ctmmu!irorio, or legally comes1 the process. Addiuonlllly. it sub· jects 344 of the 554 Indian Areas in '""Y Brazil to rtVISion btcause ha\"e )'CliO be entered into'"" country$ official land registry. Armed with such legal backing. contenders of indian lands have already staned invading and stak1ng their claims ms1de !nd1genous 1erri1ones. Indigenous organi.a110ns and NGOs m BrutI. tn sol· idarity with interna<ional forces, are worki.ng 10 pressure the Brazil ion state to revoke the new decree. What's Wrong with Decree 17751 indigenous forces and mdigenist NGOs have been unanimous in their protest of the new decree. After the passIng of Decree 22/91, which tn fact allowed for the demarcation o( se--eral Indigenous Arc3.S, many Indigenous nations fought espteially hord 10 demarcate their land. The Macuxl in Raposa Serra do Sol, for example, ha,·e been lroding an tntemallonol campaign for demarcaoon. to S«Ure thm territory 18 from gold miners and ranchers (see ano- equtpptd 10 deal with the eminent clc page 2()). Now, with Decree 1775. onslaught of legal claims against those eiTons appeor 10 have been m vain. Indigenous areas. Indigenous organi<ations point out In addition. CAPOIB claims that that one of the major problcms "ith ~ 1775 will cr<att an "IndUStry of Decree 1775 IS 1hat it was dev!S<d in indemmues: since It c:tlls lor the comabsence of open debate. Mony ptnsatlon of panics cl1tmmg a loss of Indigenous and indlgenist enuues had land due 10 demarcation, with titles to requested meetings 10 discuss the show for it. All cblms ollndenmity made imi>•cts of the decree. CAPOIB, an on lndlgti\OUSareasnot )'<I r(81Sitred are indtg<nous umbrdla organizauon based ''tlhd. The agnbustness compan)' m Brnsilia acttvc m the fight agatnst Colon1z.1dorn. Terranont Ltda. altead)' Decree 1775. point$ ou11ha1 on August solicited comptnsation for lands belong15th, 199.5. Presirlr.n1 Cardoso assured ing to the Enawene-Nawc Indigenous :trea in MAt() Grosso s1a1e; • sum to the 1une or 7.6 milhon Brazilian real$ (US$7.9 million). In Pam stalt them that he would not 1113ke any d«i· alone, the summed tndemmties for all SIOn wuhout discussing the mauer m romes1ed lnd•geriOUS ""'"' would reach detail with Indigenous organizations. approximately US$1.4 billion. Even after the signing of Decree 1775, Indigenous voices say Decree 1775 MtmSier jobim was quoted as saying. "nsks the lives of lndtgenous ptople, • refemng lo B111Zi\13n NGOs ltodmg the and add IMI im-as;oriS and '"" proliftra· tnlernalional Cllmpatgn against the lion of d~SaSCS in mdlgenous are.u will decree. "These groups are no1 tnterested increast Rtttnl news lront Braztl prove in solving the mdigcnous problem. They this aMlysis 10 be comet. According 10 are interested In creating problems and confirmed and unconfirmed reports. we 'viii ha"e no dialogue "''h those who in,'lSions are presently occurring in a cause problems" (follta ik54D Paulo, Feb. host o! h\digenous areas, including Barto de Antonina (Kaingang). the Mundurucd 6). In a clever fnshton, Decree 1775 area In Amazonas. R10 Guamd (Tembt) In effwivcly paralyzes land demarca11on by Par.\, Panmnbizn1hno ond Sete Cerros subjecth)g the process to the inter· (Guarnni-Kaiowa). both In Malo Grosso. mtnable bureaucracy of legal eoun bat· Coroa Vermelha (Pat3X6) in Bahia, Surul ties 0\'tr bnd FUNAI (National Indian and the area o( the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau in Foundation). whtch h3.S historical!)' Rondonhla. Other threatened •~ con· locked anthropologists and Ja,V)crs. "111 tested by the government and the mtllbe responsible for ~arrying out required tary for their "strategic value· are Kricatl legal, geographical. and ethnographic (Marn.nhM). Bau (Pnr.t), Mar.\iuapsede work prior 10 an)' deman:ation or as part (Mato Grosso), ond Rapos:.1 Serra do Sol of any revision FUNAI. hO\\'e\'er, IS til· near the border with Guyana. Abya Yala News �B RAZ I L Indigenous Peoples and NGOs According to jobmt, the new decree abides hy the constitution (section 55 of React article 5) because it guamntces a thi(d A well articulated number of forces, party the right to contest a judicial from Indigenous organizations :1nd process through the conrradlrorio. a NGOs an Brnzilto human right.s. environ'bost< tltment of democracy•, says mcnt, church groups, and t\'Cn SOm<o jobam. He also argues thot the court govcmmmts around the world fomted an C25CS agaanst Decree 22191 Slalled an the response to the re,•ersal of pohcy on Fedeml Supreme Court w1ll no longer Indigenous lands in Brazil. Samteg1es for have a base now thai the new decree revoking the decree have varied, hut the con~nins this clause: otherwise, all the mn;ority center on directly prcssuring the areas demarcated under decree 2219 I 6nu11ian stnte through leuers, the press. could ha"e been declared unconstitu- faxes, and other similar ntcans. tlon•l. For jobim, the Bnuallan gO\'<:rnintereSIIng. too. has been the route mcnt's •mage will imp!O\-e because they taken by CAPOIS-representing more ~~o,.., ftxed a legal · error· th~t "ill final- than 100 Indigenous groups 1n ly put a stop to the endle.<S demarcauon Bmztl-wluch sent a letter to the World procedures. &nk and the nmbas..<adors of the G-7 However. one of the strongest orgu- coum rl~s ond the European Union merns asainst the new decree, and one requesting the "temporary suspension or ~dopted by a number of leftist politicru resources dCSiined for projecu which ludcrs 1n Brazil, is that h goes :lg.1inst ha,·c among other priorities the demareathe sparit of the Brazil ~an constitution. tion of lndi~nous lands. such os Projelto The Brazilian constnuuon st3!rs that, Terras lndlgtnas. Planaforo, and wnh reg.1rds to tradition3l Indian lands. Prodeagro." Since those funds would hke· 111$lhe duty of the "Umon to dcmnrcate ly fall prey 10 the legal quagm1re winch them. pro· teet lhtm, .m<I nssure counts amongst us members most of 1he we11 known US environmental and pro· Indigenous o rganizations such as National Wildli(e Fedcmtlon. Environmental Defense Fund. Saerrn Club. International Rivers Network, Ratn Forest ACtion Network, Amanalcaa, and SAIIC. The CoalitiOn plans to support the efforts of Broztli•n ind1genous ~nd human rights org.onizations and will ells· cuss funding de\'elopment i>rojects linked to Indigenous areas in Brull "~th multinational agencies. Decree 1775 mUSI be \iewed "ithin the lnrgu conltxt of the long 1em1 plans held by a consonium of gO\-rmmental and pm'!ltt intereSI$ to develop large areas of the Amnzon bosin and other nnt· Art 9 " Nou ckM.-t'QQOics rm cun.o. C\.90 4ecftto bornolopa6tfo o.10 lCTIU ridG objftC) dO ~tuO en;a an4tlo 4rnof:llltjrio ou ~ Soc•noria do Patrimc)nlo ct. IJnliO 4o Mml.dtelo u.m f'nA'Od.it- o. locc~ 1 , .., ot.On•fc:.LUooM, oo. •........._do f .. cto .,. t'". 110 ~ • ~ ....._ • da.'-- 4.a pue,u ;• .s-. ~o. the respeCt of oll of thm resources." Mony atgue that tht new Decree prt\'Cnts thiS basic duty from being fulfilled. "II fnghtens us to ,.,. that the go\'crnmenl intends lO revnaUz.e, wnh 1hc new decree. titles to land tim the consthmion regards as 'null and void,' since they were created centuries ago when the land was clearly Indigenous: says Congressman :olilmarto Miranda (I'TCS1dcnt of the Comm111ce for Human Raghts of rhe Chamber of Depuues). Jobam 1S wasting no ume tn implementing Decree 1775. Soon after the J~1sslng or the decree, he scm lc!!ers to S<:\'cral go,·ernors primarily in the Amoton reg1on listing (or them the areas 10 bt revised in their n:speeti\"t Sl3tts. For tXllmple. In a leuer to the go\'crnor or ParA state dated the lith or January, he liSied 14 lndtgenous are.'\5 up for revision. mcluding two whose combined arc~ is only 58 hect~res. Vol. 10 No.1 Pany and a strongly worded protest leuer signed by 80 environmental and human rights groups scm to President C.rdO!IO from the Coaliuon in Suppon of Amazonian Ptoples and Theu Emironmcnt. • coordinating body b.1sed in Washmgton DC. The leuer exhorts him to r.-'0~ the Decree. The Coahuon promlSCS to ensue from the 1'(\'1$1011 or do:ens of exiotmg Indigenous a!t3$ The CAPOIB documem claims th.1t "SJn<:e it took office over a )'<Or ago. the g<)\'emmcnt or Fernando Hennquc C.rdi>SO has been 1>1111ing In place a delibenue policy or reducuon of indigenous tcrrilorks.• Indigenous organizations are also calling for the cancelation of Gcrm:m funds (S22 million) don:ued to Brazil aftrr tht 1992 Earth Summit for the protcetaon of tropical ramforests (P1Iot Progmm lor the Pro<e<:uon of Trop1cal R.1inforests). Pan of that effort included funds spcciOcally destined for the demar· cmlon ' of Indian Areas. Indigenous groups pomt out that Decree 1775 does not comply \\1th the objecti\'.S or thc grant and they fear that some of lhc fund· ing from Gcrmany could be dl\'t!rted to the te\'151011 of CXtsting areas. Other major efforts agamst the decree include '' motion of unconstilutlonalily put forward by the Brnzllinn Workers ural :1rcas. M wuh thr m3mmoth Hid!0\13 proJ«t (see page 28). and progressi"<l)• mtegr:ue lhc entire reg10n mto the nauorml and mlernational econom1c system. In deOancc of the lnttmatlonnl Decade or Indigenous Peoples declared by the United Nations in 1993. the new decree sets down the foundations for a future of large scale de\'t.lopment ummpeded by Indigenous groups stllking claims to thttr ttaditlonal lands and resources. ..., You can support rhe rfforts of Indigenous !>«>plrs Bra~il b.)' s<ndlng. Ja.<!ng. or· ematllng .)'0<" lmers of procat 11> the jolluwir.g add,.'$$1$. in Frmaru!D Htnrlqut Cardoso. I'Tdldttll of 1M Rtpubltt. Pal<ldo do PlaJ:G.ho, Brwtlia • DF • 70. 160-900. Fax; SS-61-226-i$66. tnuld: pr@cr·df.rnp.br; Nd$0n )obim, Mintsfcr cJ )usll<e, ~!$planada dos Mmisrerios·Bioco T. Bra.<ilia • OF • 70.06-1-900, Fax: 55·61 ·22•1· 2448, errwll: l\)oblm@ax.ap<.org � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Vol. 10, no. 1 (Spring 1996) Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Decree 1775: An Attack on Indian Lands in Brazil Type The nature or genre of the resource Journal Article Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Spring 1996 Language A language of the resource English, Spanish English Zotero Title Decree 177S:An Attack onIndian Lands in Brazil Item Type Journal Article Volume 10 Issue 1 Pages 18-19 Publication Title Abya Yala News ISSN 1071-3182 Date Spring 1996 Language English Abstract Note The Council of Indigenous Peoples and Organizations of Brazil discuss how Decree 1775 is more than a setback; it 's a death sentence for many Indigenous groups. Attachment Title Pages from Abyayala_v10_n1_p18-19.pdf Attachment URL [No URL] Amazonian Peoples Brazil Council of Indigenous Peoples and Organizations of Brazil) Decree 1775