Brazil’s Supreme Court is about to rule on indigenous land rights | Agricultural News

Before 1988, the indigenous peoples of Brazil were “hunted” by paid killers of big landlords, and their “ears” were cut off.

Thousands of native Brazilians dressed in colored paints, beads and feathers set up a protest camp outside the Supreme Court, after they will make an expected landmark ruling on whether they can reclaim their lost ancestral land.

Al Jazeera reporter Monica Yanakiew reported on Wednesday that this is “very important” for indigenous protesters camping in Brasilia.

The Supreme Court of Brasilia will decide whether to recognize the rights of indigenous peoples to land occupied before the approval of the 1988 Brazilian Constitution. This is the legal deadline for the governments of Brazil’s states to seek to restrict the rights of indigenous peoples.

Indigenous peoples and rights groups argued that the application of the 1988 date eliminated indigenous claims across Brazil, which dates back to the 1950s, when they were driven out of their land by tobacco farms, miners and logging operations.

“If the Supreme Court accepts the ruling that sets the deadline and does not allow anyone to not occupy their land before 1988 unless people ask for anything, then it would be a big setback for them,” Yah said. Nakif said. .

This case originated from Xiao Lengren’s Proposition Southern Brazil opposes the Santa Catarina state government. Xokleng said that the government’s interpretation of indigenous rights was too narrow and only recognized tribal lands occupied in 1988.

Xavante Aboriginal women with painted bodies wear a card with “Vitality Forest” at the Luta pela Vida camp (Life Struggle), protesting on the first day of the landmark case of indigenous land rights in the Supreme Court of Brazil [Amanda Perobelli/Reuters]

A ruling in favor of Xokleng may reopen about 800 other claims and result in the return of land to indigenous peoples.

“For the Xokleng people, taking back their territory in the southern state of Santa Catarina is a legal dispute. The big landlords say they have no rights because they did not occupy these lands when the 1988 Constitution was approved,” Rafaelmo Desto said that Xokleng’s lawyer.

Modesto told Al Jazeera: “This will establish precedents for hundreds of outstanding cases.”

According to Brazil’s latest census in 2010, there are approximately 900,000 indigenous people in the country, belonging to 305 different groups.

Deforestation In recent years, under the pro-agricultural policies of President Jair Bolsonaro, the population of the Amazon region of Brazil has surged.

“We did not live on our land in 1988 because if we lived there, we would be hunted down by landlords,” said Xokleng chief Woie Patte.

“They set prices for us. They paid people to kill us and asked them to use our ears as evidence,” Pat told Al Jazeera.

Indigenous Savants paint their bodies at Camp Luta pela Vida (fight for life) [Amanda Perobelli/Reuters]

With the support of Brazil’s powerful agricultural lobby, Bolsonaro is pushing for legislation in Congress, which will Relaxation of regulatory requirements Used in mining and agricultural projects in the Amazon rainforest. Another bill would delay the claim of indigenous land by allowing squatters in the Amazon rainforest to claim ownership of their property.

According to Reuters, Greenpeace stated that if the bill becomes law, it will actually be an amnesty for land invasion.

“The message from legislators to Brazilians is that it is worthwhile to invade and cut down public land,” said Marianna Mota of Greenpeace.

Earlier this month, an indigenous organization in Brazil asked the International Criminal Court to investigate Bolsonaro’s “genocide” and “ecological extermination”, accusing him of persecuting indigenous people and destroying their homes.

Native Brazilian expression Accused in the case A document submitted to the Hague Court on August 9 stated that since taking office in 2019, the far-right president has led a “clear, systematic and deliberate anti-indigenous policy”.

The organization’s legal coordinator, Eloy Terena, said in a statement that “we believe that what is happening in Brazil constitutes crimes against humanity, genocide and ecological genocide,” on the grounds that Brazilian courts These allegations cannot be resolved.