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ACTION ALERT 118 - MARCH, 1996
"Brazil is backsliding on its commitment to indigenous people, and recent legislation passed there can have deadly effect. The just-signed Decree #1775 delays the demarcation of new indigenous reserves, and challenges the legitimacy of existing ones. It's the Wild West all over again, only this time it's in the rainforest. We must do all we can to overturn this fearful decree before we lose whole indigenous cultures." Beto Borges, Amazon Campaign
On January 8, Brazil's President Fernando Henrique Cardoso signed Decree #1775 into law. The decreedubbed the "Genocide Decree" by human rights activistsallows commercial interests to protest indigenous land titles, and undermines the rights of Indians to their traditional territories as guaranteed in Brazil's Constitution. It could also take natural resources, which the local communities depend on for survival, out of their control.
In 1988, the Brazilian Congress incorporated the progressive Article #231 into the Constitution. This revolutionary legislation recognized the inalienable right of indigenous people to their ancestral lands and natural resources, and guaranteed their right to exist as distinct cultures. 1991's Decree #22 further delineated the primacy of indigenous rights over competing interests. The decree insured that title to indigenous land would be based on aboriginal habitation alone, and parties with secondary title would be compensated for their losses.
In addition, the Government adopted a timetable that these territories be demarcated by October 5, 1993. To date, Brazil has granted only 210 indigenous land titles out of 554 acknowledged claims. Decree #1775 will derail this process, already over two years behind schedule. Brazil's Minister of Justice, Nelson Jobim, worked to revoke Decree #22 since its inception, and successfully argued that the law is unconstitutional because it does not incorporate an adversarial process. The Genocide Decree gives private commercial interests `the right to contest,' and effectively annuls Decree #22. Already, monied interests are filing injunctions to reverse indigenous land titles. The farming conglomerate Agropecuaria Sattin was the first to act, and is contesting the Guarani-Kaiowa territory of Sete Cerros, in Mato Grosso.
Pirate mahogany loggers and gold miners have taken the Genocide Decree as a sign of government sanction, and have already moved their operations into Indian lands. The Indigenist Missionary Council (CIMI)a human rights monitoring group of Christian missionariesreports that eight Indian areas have been invaded in the few weeks since Decree #1775 became law.
In another twist, Decree #1775 opens previously demarcated areas to revision, including the gold-rich lands of the Yanomami people. In response, the Yanomami held an assembly to organize resistance to politicians and economic interests, and decried the devastating effects of continued invasion by gold miners who pollute the rivers and forests, as well as introduce disease. Since 1987, nearly twenty-five percent of the Yanomami population has been killed by contagions carried by the unwanted colonists.
The Genocide Decree feeds the fire of privatization currently underway in the Amazon. By rewriting the law, the Brazilian government is making it possible for industry to invade indigenous territories for cattle ranching, mahogany logging, and oil and mineral extraction. These types of unsustainable forest practices demand roads and infrastructure developments, and historically bring an onslaught of settlers to remote and pristine areas that have long been the sacred homeland of indigenous peoples.
Fourth World Bulletin • Spring/Summer 1996
Copyright © 1996 by the Fourth World Center
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