News-Letter  Nr. 428

Higher Court Upholds Sentence of Crime of Genocide in the Haximu Massacre

The 5th panel of the Higher Court of Justice (STJ) has upheld a sentence issued by a lower court that declared a group of miners guilty of genocide against 16 Yanomami in what became known as the Haximu massacre, which took place in 1993 in the state of Roraima. In December 1996, federal judge Itagiba Catta Preta declared five of the 22 defendants guilty of genocide and damages. One of them died last year. The penalties range from 19 to 22 years in prison for the charge of genocide and six months for the charge of damages. The convicted miners appealed to the Federal Regional Court (TRF) of the 1st region in Brasília requesting a jury trial. The Court accepted their arguments and the federal public prosecution service filed another appeal with the STJ requesting that the sentence issued by the lower court be upheld.

In the opinion of the general solicitors, the decision of the TRF disregards an international convention of which Brazil is a member country. According to the Federal Public Prosecution Service and the Pro-Yanomami Commission (CCPY), the convicted miners want to stand jury trial because they believe they could be acquitted by jurors who nurture negative feelings in relation to indigenous people. The Haximu massacre was one of the very few crimes against indigenous people whose perpetrators have been found guilty of genocide. The case will now be referred back to the TRF for the appeals filed by the defense to be judged.

Court Sets Deadline for the Guarani of Araça'í

Federal judge Narciso Leandro Xavier Baez decided to set a deadline of 20 days for Funai to find a "peaceful solution" for the situation of Guarani families that, on July 10, reoccupied 49 hectares of the Guarani area that were invaded by farmer Carlos Francisco Zimmer in Saudades, west of the state of Santa Catarina. The Guarani want an area called Araça'í, where indigenous cemeteries are located, to be demarcated.

A few days after the Guarani reoccupied the area, the farmer filed an action for repossession to expel the indigenous people from it. The first hearing was held on Friday, September 8.

The federal court expects the Technical Group charged with studying the presence of indigenous people in the region in question to resume their work within these 20 days. Judge Baez, however, determined that the studies are to be limited to the land occupied by the Guarani and are not to be extended to the whole area they claim is traditionally theirs. After the deadline, the action will be judged once again. The city hall of Saudades and local businessman are confident that the indigenous people will be expelled from the area, but the Guarani claim that they have the right to stay in it.

Francisco Zimmer says that he bought the land from Companhia Territorial Sul Brasil, a private corporation. During the colonization of Brazil's south region in the 1920s, the state of Santa Catarina gave large land areas for certain companies to settle people in them. Many of these lands were originally inhabited by indigenous people, who ended up being violently expelled from them and forced to live in other villages. Part of the community of Araça'í went to the Nonoai indigenous area, located between the municipalities of Nonoai, Rio dos Öndios, Planalto, and Gramado dos Loureiros, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The Guarani, however, have always been aware of their right to live in their original territory, and now they are fighting to have it demarcated. Supported by allies, they have launched an international campaign aimed at persuading the courts to allow them to stay in the area.

Special Commission will Follow up Investigation of the Murder of Chief Xicão Xukuru

The Human Rights Defense Council, an agency of the ministry of Justice, decided on September 8 to set up an inquiry commission to investigate the murder of chief Xicão Xukuru on 20 May 1998 in Pesqueira, state of Pernambuco. The decision of the Council was taken in response to a request made by the Federal Public Prosecution Service, which complained that it was taking too long for the police investigation to be completed, considering that it usually takes 30 days for results to be produced in this kind of investigation. On 9 October 1999, the Federal Police arrested Juracir Gomes as the main suspect of the murder of Xicão Xukuru, but he was released by officer Romero Meneses, who argued that the evidence was not enough to keep him in prison and press charges against him. The investigation will now have to start from scratch.

The special commission of the Human Rights Defense Council is made up of Public Ministry for Citizenship Rights Maria Eliane Menezes de Farias, who is its rapporteur, Percílio de Sousa Lima Neto, representative of the Brazilian BAR Association (OAB), and Romeu Omar Klinch, secretary of the National Human Rights Movement (MNDH). The Commission has a deadline of 45 days to prepare a report.

Social Affairs Commission Rejects Project that Annulled the Demarcation of the Raposa/Serra do Sol Indigenous Area

The Social Affairs Commission of the Senate unanimously decided on Wednesday, September 13, to approve a report prepared by senator Tião Vianna (Workers' Party - state of Acre) rejecting the tentative text of Legislative Decree n. 106 proposed by senator Mozarildo Cavalcante (Liberal Front Party - state of Roraima) against the demarcation of the Raposa/Serra do Sol indigenous area. The bill of the legislative decree was intended to annul Administrative Ruling n. 820 issued by the ministry of Justice in December 1988, according to which the Raposa/Serra do Sol area was to be permanently occupied by the Macuxi, Wapixana, Taurepang, and Ingarikó as a continuous area. Senator Mozarildo wanted to annul the demarcation based on information about the existence of productive farms inside the area. In his report, senator Tião Vianna argued that the indigenous people had previous rights over their land and that the presence of properties in it "provided no grounds for obstacles to be imposed on the demarcation."

After a struggle of almost 20 years, the administrative ruling that recognized Raposa/Serra do Sol as a single area has been constantly attacked by anti-indigenous groups of Roraima that are intent on annulling it and insist that the area must be demarcated in "islands." Politicians and economic groups of Roraima have established an alliance for this purpose. In July of this year, federal judge Helder Girão Barreto designated an interdisciplinary commission to prepare a technical-scientific report on the demarcation of the area. The report will provide evidence for a court decision in relation to the Class Action filed by lawyers Silvino Lopes da Silva, Alcides da Conceição Lima Filho, and Luis Hitler Britto de Lucena against the said ruling.

The indigenous peoples of Roraima, in turn, have been pressing for the demarcation procedure to be completed. The next step now is to have the demarcation ratification decree signed by president Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Despite his many promises and meetings in Brasília, the president has not signed this decree so far because of pressures from congresspersons, the government of the state of Roraima, and farmers supported by governor Neudo Campos. This absurd situation represents a permanent risk for the lives indigenous people and their allies. There is constant tension in the state. The ratification of the bounds of Raposa/Serra do Sol as a single area is an urgent need.

Brasília, 14 September 2000.
Indianist Missionary Council - Cimi

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