News-Letter Nr. 477

Murderers of Galdino Jesus dos Santos Will Stand Trial in November

The four individuals accused of killing the Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe Galdino Jesus dos Santos on April 20, 1997 will by judged in a jury trial in Brasília on November 6. Max Rogério Alves, Antônio Novély Cardoso de Vilanova, Tomás Oliveira de Almeida and Eron Chaves Oliveira will stand trial for felony, that is, for a planned crime "with intent to kill," as decided by the 5th Panel of the High Court (STJ) on February 9, 1999. The defendants were caught red-handed and are now behind bars at the Papuda Penitentiary in Brasília. Only one of them, G.N.A.J, who at the time of the crime was a minor, is at liberty after observing social-educational measures imposed by the Juvenile Court of the Federal District. For almost two years the defense attorneys of the defendants have filed many appeals to avoid the Jury Trial, but all of them have been rejected.

Galdino Jesus of the Santos was burned alive while he slept at a bus stop in the block 703 south in Brasília. That night, the five murderers saw a person sleeping at the bus stop. They then went to a gas station nearby, bought fuel, spilled it over the victim's body and set him on fire. Galdino woke up with his body in flames and was taken to a hospital by a couple that was passing by. Before passing out at the hospital, he only managed to identify himself and ask the people around him to tell his fellow indigenous people who were with him in Brasília what had happened. After twenty-four hours in pain and agony, he died with 95% of his body burned. Galdino was a member of a Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe delegation that was in Brasília to press Funai to regularize the situation of the Caramuru-Catarina-Paraguassu indigenous land in Pau Brasil, state of Bahia.

Brazilian Indigenous People Attend the World Conference Against Racism

The Brazilian indigenous delegation that is in Durban, South Africa, to attend the parallel Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Intolerance has strong claims to make and is not at all aligned with the position of the representatives of the Brazilian government, who at the official conference have been emphasizing their alleged deeds just to promote themselves. The indigenous representatives want indigenous communities to be recognized as peoples with unique features, the Statute of Indigenous Peoples to be approved, and Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization (ILO) to be ratified. On Wednesday, the 4th, they took part in demonstrations against the policies being adopted by the administration of president Fernando Henrique Cardoso in relation to the black population, indigenous people, and other socially excluded groups. The demonstrations were strongly repressed by UN security guards, who destroyed banners carried by demonstrators.

Reoccupation of Indigenous Territory Causes Tension in Mato Grosso do Sul

The Kaiová indigenous community reoccupied the Panambizinho indigenous territory, located in the district of Panambi, municipality of Dourados, state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The indigenous people want a 1,240-hectare area (less than they would be entitled to) to be demarcated, as provided for in an administrative ruling signed by the former minister of Justice, Nelson Jobim, in 1995. Funai denied claims that it hasn't demarcated the area yet because of pressures from farmers and says that judicial actions filed by indigenous people contesting the bounds of the indigenous area are the true cause of this delay. The Panambizinho area was reocuppied in a climate of strong tension. Farmers resorted to the court system to have the indigenous people evicted from the 15 hectares that were reoccupied, but they have not been successful in their pleas so far. The indigenous people say they will resist any actions to evict them from their land.

Brasília, 6 September 2001. Indianist Missionary Council - Cimi

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