News-Letter Nr. 443

Military Police Kidnaps and Kills Truká Indians

On 4 January, military police from the state of Pernambuco kidnapped the Truká Indians Nilson Félix, 16, and his father José de Nô Félix, 38, in the municipality of Cabrobó (PE). From the moment the kidnapping was practiced, the community mobilized to make searches, and three days later (on Sunday 7 January) came upon the burned and mutilated bodies of Nilson and José de Nô in an area of the municipality of Santa Maria da Boa Vista, located 150 kilometers from the place the kidnapping took place.

The kidnapping and murder occurred following an operation by the Pernambuco Military Police in Cabroró during which the adolescent Nilson and his uncle Geraldo Gomes da Silva were shot. In the same operation died Ismael Borges Melo and Luismar Leite Rocha, members of the Military Police force. Nilson's uncle died later as a result of the wounds he suffered.

Nilson Félix was taken by his father to the local hospital, but his condition was so serious that he had to be removed to a hospital in Petrolina (PE), where he would receive the proper treatment. The transfer was made in a vehicle that belonged to alderman Romero Gomes, which transported Nilson, his father and a nurse, besides the driver. On the way the vehicle was intercepted by a Military Police vehicle. Several policemen wearing hoods kidnapped the young man and his father and ordered the others to return to Cabrobó.

Informed of the Military Police action by the nurse, the Truká community reported the incident to the Federal Police and mobilized to make searches. It was the Indians themselves who located the bodies three days later, following information given by local residents.

The corpses of the adolescent and his father were released yesterday by the Forensic Medicine Institute of Recife, and the Indian community programmed for today, 11 January, the burial ceremony for the two Indians on Assunção Island in the Truká territory.

This action by the MP of the state of Pernambuco against the Indians is not an isolated fact, since many denunciations have been made by the Trukás against the police authorities in the region without the community leaders reporting any punishment of those who violate their constitutional rights. This flagrant disrespect for human rights is aggravated by the state authorities failing to recognize the differentiated ethnic identity of the Indians, and consequently the need for specific treatment.

Also on the 4th January, members of the Military Police (some of whom wore hoods) invaded the Truká territory in 12 vehicles, including regular automobiles, without the proper legal authorization (the area is under the responsibility of the Federal Police). They placed the Indian known as "Lobinho" in the trunk of one of the cars for him to show them Nilson Félix's house, where they looked for his other brother, 14-year-old Nelson Félix.

On the 8th January two representatives of the Truká community traveled by bus from Cabrobó to Recife to see to certain procedures relating to the case when they were approached by five military policemen in the city of Belém do São Francisco, without any justification being given. They asked where the Indians lived and accused them of being bus robbers. The police allowed them to continue their journey, but forbade them to make any comment on the incident. If they did, "someone would blow their heads off". The five policemen followed the bus in a small vehicle for about 40 kilometers.

The Cimi Regional office in the Northeast sent a petition to the Federal Department of Justice requesting that an inquiry be opened by the Federal Police; an Administrative-Disciplinary Procedure be conducted by the General Police Internal Affairs; the policemen involved in the occurrence be removed from the municipality of Cabrobó and vicinity; the State of Pernambuco be held responsible for the occurrence; and other provisions.

Brasília, 11 January 2001.
Indianist Missionary Council - Cimi





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