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News-Letter Nr. 604 |
Public civil action demands signing of administrative ruling demarcating the Toldo Imbu indigenous land
In response to a Public Civil Action filed by the Federal Prosecution Service on March 5, the Federal Substitute Judge of the 1st Federal Court of Chapecó, state of Santa Catarina, Elisângela Simon Caureo, ruled that the Federal Administration must conclude the necessary procedures to demarcate the Toldo Imbu indigenous area or pay a fine if her decision is not complied with.
The Judge ruled that "the Federal Administration, in the person of the minister of Justice, must comply with the provisions of paragraph 10 of article 2 of Decree 1,775/96 and make a decision in relation to the procedures to demarcate the indigenous lands in question within thirty days, or else it will be forced to pay a daily fine of R$ 50,000 after the above-mentioned deadline..."
For over two decades, the Kaingang have been fighting to have the Toldo Imbu indigenous land officially demarcated. The land was identified in 2001 as a traditional land of this people. Since December 2002, the community has been waiting for the required administrative ruling for this purpose to be signed.
In 2003, the Kaingang carried out different actions to sensitize the ministry of Justice to make a decision in relation to the case. In June of last year, Kaingang leaders and leaders of other indigenous communities in the state of Santa Catarina camped for 11 days in front of the building of the ministry of Justice to demand, among other measures, the publication of the Administrative Ruling dealing with the demarcation of the Toldo Imbu indigenous land.
During that year, political demonstrations against the demarcation of the area were staged in the state of Santa Catarina. In September, Kaingang leaders announced publicly that the federal administration had considered the possibility of signing the administrative ruling, but the minister of Justice ended up not signing it due to political pressures.
Cimi believes that conflicts in indigenous lands are growing because the Government is taking too long to make decisions about their demarcation.
Delegation of the terena people demands official demarcation of the Cachoeirinha indigenous land
A delegation made up of 35 Terena leaders arrived yesterday in Brasília to pressure Funai and the ministry of Justice to speed up the process of reviewing the bounds of the Cachoeirinha indigenous land located in the municipality of Miranda, 240 kilometers from Campo Grande, state of Mato Grosso do Sul.
The report identifying this land, which was published in June 2003, was submitted to Funai in December, but so far the agency has not issued its opinion on its contents. According to Decree 1,775/96, the process should have been referred to the ministry of Justice already for the minister to sign the respective administrative ruling demarcating the land. For 70 years, the Terena have been fighting to expand their 2,670-hectare land to a 36,288-hectare area.
The community, which is made up of approximately 5,000 members, has been suffering with the lack of space, which has led many families to migrate to different cities. According to Ramão Vieira, chief of the Lagoinha indigenous village, the lack of opportunities in the village leads many young people to leave them to make a living elsewhere. "We are worried with this fact. We are here to claim our rights, as provided for in the Constitution. We just want what we are entitled by the law to have. We want our people to remain in our village and those who are in the city to return, but this will only be possible when our right to our traditional territory is ensured," he said.
In response to these claims, Funai's legal office promised, in a document signed by attorney Luiz Soares de Lima, to submit a report on the matter to the president of the agency within 10 days for him to refer it to the minister of Justice. The leaders said that if this deadline is not complied with, they will return with more members of the Terena community. "There are 35 of us here today and we can return with 300, but we hope that the commitment taken on by the attorney will be fulfilled," the chief said.
Brasília, March 11th 2004
Cimi - Indianist Missionary Council
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