News-Letter Nr. 465

Indigenous Aldermann Suffers Aggression in Plenary

The alderman and member of the Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe community Agnaldo Francisco dos Santos (Agnaldo Pataxó) suffered moral and physical aggression during a town-council plenary session held on Monday night, June 11. He was assaulted by the also alderman Wilson Augusto dos Santos, brother of the mayor of Pau Brasil, state of Bahia, who got irritated when Agnaldo Pataxó reported overbilling practices and other administrative wrongdoings of the city hall. At the peak of his fury, Wilson Augusto dos Santos began to verbally attack Agnaldo Pataxó and the Workers' Party (PT), of which he is a member, and then hit Agnaldo with a microphone stand. Agnaldo Pataxó also reported that on June 8 Wilson Santos threatened to kill the president of the Workers' Party in Pau Brasil, Odilon Nogueira.

The mayor of Pau Brasil, José Augusto dos Santos Filho, is a declared enemy of the Pataxó Hã-Ha-Hãe and has been accused of starting an armed conflict in 1986 that killed two indigenous people and injured two others. The aggression against alderman Agnaldo Francisco is part of a campaign to intimidate the Pataxó Ha-Hã-Hãe, who are trying to recover and legalize the occupation of a 54,100-hectare indigenous area. On April 19, they won a significant victory in this connection. Federal Attorney General Geraldo Brindeiro issued an opinion in favor of the Pataxó Hã-Ha-Hãe in proceedings to annul title deeds illegally granted by the state of Bahia in the 1980s. A decision of the Supreme Court (STF) in relation to these proceedings has been pending for 19 years and depended on this opinion for a final sentence to be issued.

Tired of waiting for a judicial decision, the Pataxó reoccupy the territory by recuperative actions. On June 5, they occupied two additional farms peacefully. Their alleged owners, who are against the demarcation of the area, tried to incite the population against them with the connivance of the city hall. Various gunmen were seen in the city looking for members of the Pataxó community. With Cimi's support, 15 Pataxó leaders held a meeting with the attorney general in Ilhéus, Márcio Torres, on June 12 to report certain facts and ask physical protection for the indigenous alderman and the Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe community. Alderman Agnaldo Pataxó underwent a medical examination to confirm the assault. The Workers' Party and some aldermen of Pau Brasil asked the city council to begin an inquiry to determine whether Wilson Augusto dos Santos committed an offense against decorum as an alderman.

Trials of the People Accused of the Massacre of Eldorado Do Carajás and of the Murder of Union Leader Margarida Alves are Postponed

Judge Eva do Amaral Coelho of the state of Pará postponed for an undetermined period the judgment of 149 military police officers who stand accused of the Massacre of Eldorado do Carajás (state of Pará), as a result of which 19 landless peasants were killed and 66 workers linked to the Landless Movement (MST) were injured on 17 April 1996. Originally scheduled for June 18, the jury trial was postponed for a new technical analysis of a videotape with images of the incident to be carried out.

The first report, which was prepared by expert Ricardo Molina of the State University of Campinas (Unicamp), indicated that the military police were responsible for the first shots, but it was rejected by the judge on the grounds that it had been submitted after the deadline for its presentation had expired. Human rights groups pressed for the evidence to be included in the records, leading the judge to request a new analysis of the videotape. It will be the second judgment of the case. In August 1999, the leaders of the troops (colonel Mário Colares Pantoja, major José Maria de Oliveira, and captain Raimundo Almendra Lameira) were acquitted, but the sentence was annulled afterwards as a result of contradictions in how the case was presented by the then judge of the case, Ronaldo Valle, to the jurors.

The case of Margarida Maria Alves

The judgment of the man who hired a gunman to kill union leader Margarida Maria Alves, which had been originally scheduled for June 11, was postponed to June 18. The postponement was caused by a medical report filed by lawyer Bóris Trindade, who is defending landowner José Buarque de Gusmão Neto (Zito Buarque). Margarida Alves was murdered in August 1983 in front of her son with a shot fired from a 12-mm rifle. At that time, the union leader had reported to the ministry of Labor that the Tanques sugarcane mill, owned by Zito Buarque, was adopting abusive practices in relation to its employees and was not complying with labor laws.

According to Cimi's Executive Secretary, Egon Heck, the postponement of these trials "confirms how the dominant classes are confident that impunity will prevail and that the mobilization of the population for justice will recede." Human rights groups brought more than 2,000 people together in João Pessoa, capital of the state of Paraíba, to press for the conviction of the landowner. These movements have pledged to keep the pressure until the next hearing is held and demand justice for Margarida Maria Alves.

Brasília, 13 June 2001
Indianist Missionary Council - Cimi

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