URGENT ACTIONS

Brazil - Disrespect for human rights continues generating violence against Guarani Kaiowa

CASES

OPEN LETTERS

The Guarani-Kaiowá are indigenous people from the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul. In the past they were expelled from their ancestral lands to make way for large-scale agricultural plantations and cattle breeding.
This year on August 18th and 19th, several dozen indigenous persons that have been demanding the demarcation of their ancestral territory, YPo´I for years, occupied an area of the São Luiz farm in Paranhos, on the border with Paraguay, in the southern part of Mato Gross do Sul. The group of indigenous people is now isolated since the area´s owner will not allow the responsible organisms, such as the Federal Public Ministry, FUNAI and FUNASA, to enter, because "that would endorse the occupation". This arbitrariness caused FUNASA to be unable to medically attend to a 3-year-old indigenous child who then died on September 21st. On September 23rd, FUNASA published a notice explaining the causes of the death. According to the death certificate, the child died from a cardiorespiratory arrest caused by pneumonia, dehydration and malnutrition. Another group of 86 Guarani-Kaiowá families from the Ita'y Ka'aguyrusu camp realized an occupation of their ancestral lands on September 4th in the municipality of Douradina (MS), now they are being violently attacked by the landowners from the region.

Call to Action

Please write a letter as soon as possible to President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, the Minister of Social Development, the Human Rights Minister and the Minister of Justice, asking them to identify and demarcate the lands traditionally belonging to the Guarani-Kaiowás, in order to guarantee the Guarani-Kaiowá people´s access to the land, the realization of their human right to adequate food, and to protect this community.

Background

In the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, some 27,500 Guarani-Kaiowá are subject to constant human rights violations, mainly of those rights that refer to access to their traditional territories, a right guaranteed in various international human rights covenants, such as the Brazilian federal constitution.

This indigenous population, besides being kept from accessing their ancestral lands and livelihoods, is also threatened by estate owners and subject to inhumane work conditions in transnational plantations that utilize a large part of the Guarani-Kaiowá territory to grow sugar cane and for the production of ethanol.
In 2007, seeking reparations for these violations, FUNAI (the National Indian Foundation) and the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) decided by a Conduct Adjustment Agreement -CAA- (Administrative Procedure MPF / RPM/DRS/ MS1.21.001000065 /2007-44) to demarcate the territories of the Guarani-Kaiowá in Mata Grosso do Sul. Nevertheless, the implementation timelines have not been met by FUNAI. On August 25th, the president of the republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva participated in a meeting with 25 political and religious leaders from the Guarani-Kaiowá and Terena community in Dourados to discuss the topic of demarcating the indigenous lands in Mato Grosso do Sul and he guaranteed that he would contact FUNAI that very day to ask the federal police to accompany the work groups planned in the CAA.

Since the land demarcation does not progress, a group of some dozens of indigenous people from the Guarani-Kaiowá ethnic group, that have been demanding the demarcation of their ancestral territory called YPo´, for years, occupied an area of the São Luiz farm in Paranhos on August 18th and 19th, on the Paraguay border, in the south of Mata Grosso do Sul.

The Federal Public Ministry was informed on the 19th. That day, representatives of FUNAI and the federal police went to the site and confirmed the occupation being conducted by the indigenous people. Given the social vulnerability prevalent in the area, the FUNAI regional coordinator in Amambai and Ponta Pora requested authorization for access to the indigenous people in order to provide them with food and assistance. The landowner denied the authorization since "this would endorse the occupation".

Due to the aforementioned arbitrariness, FUNASA was unable to medically treat an indigenous 3-year-old child that then died on September 21st. On September 23rd FUNASA reported that the child had suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest caused my pneumonia, dehydration and malnutrition. Another group of 86 Guarani-Kaiowá families from the Ita'y Ka'aguyrusu camp realized an occupation of their ancestral lands on September 4th in the municipality of Douradina (MS); they were then violently attacked by the landowners from the region.

The lack of demarcation of the territory is a sign of disrespect to the national and international legislation and exposes the Guarani-Kaiowá to malnutrition. From 2005 to 2010, 36 children have died from malnutrition. It is estimated that in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul malnutrition affects at least 600 indigenous children. The poor living conditions have the consequences of high homicide and suicide rates in these communities. Only unrestricted access to their ancestral territory will repair these violations and effectively realize the rights of this population.

FIAN Mandate

The facts aforementioned demonstrate the serious disrespect and violation of the international human rights protection instruments, such as the ILO Convention 169 (International Labor Organization) approved by the legislative decree 143 in June of 2002 and establishes that indigenous populations and other traditional communities have special rights to their territories and determines that the State party must recognize the interested parties´ right to property and possession of the lands their ancestors have occupied. In some cases measures must also be taken to guarantee the interested population´s right to use land that has not been used exclusively by them, but that they have traditionally had access to for their livelihoods.

FIAN is aware that Brazil is also a State party to the UN´s International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognized in the 1988 Constitution, article 5, paragraph 2 and incorporated into the national legislation in the legislative decree of 1922. Therefore, Brazil has the obligation to protect, respect and guarantee the rights of its population. This includes the guarantee and protection of the right to adequate food as stated in article 11 of the Covenant. The physical and economic access to productive resources, including access to water and land, legally ensured, is an essential condition to the realization of the right to food, as the Committee of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights stipulates in the General Comment 12.