The plenary session of Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) this Wednesday resumes the trial of the tentative milestone, the main bet by Brazil’s agribusiness to halt indigenous lands demarcation and challenge areas already demarcated.
ALSO READ:
Lula pledges to end deforestation in the Amazon by 2030
The Supreme Court will decide whether the legal thesis, which uses October 5, 1988 – the date of promulgation of the Brazilian Constitution – as the term for the demarcation of indigenous lands, is constitutional or unconstitutional.
If they do not have proof that they occupied the territory within the timeframe set, hundreds of tribal groups who were forcibly evicted from the areas, as was a regular occurrence during the 1964-1988 military dictatorship, lose their right to the land .
Today, in the fourth fair of June 7, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) resumes the ruling that will determine the future of two indigenous peoples and is crucial to the climate crisis.
Check out the HOJE program and learn about the temporary framework: https://t.co/CfUMpSSDLK pic.twitter.com/pSamXWAyBI
– Official Apib (@ApibOficial)
June 7, 2023
Although the text of the Constitution recognizes the right of indigenous people to traditionally occupied lands, it does not mention any temporal criteria for demarcation.
On this basis, the term is considered “clearly unconstitutional” by jurists, attorneys and the Federation Ministry of State (MPF).
The STF suspended voting on the 2021 timeline after that panel’s judge, Alexandre de Moraes, asked for comment. So far, two ministers have voted: rapporteur Edson Fachin against the deadline and Nunes Marques in favour.
2,000 tribals are camping out in Brasília and are demanding that the Supreme Court vote against the legal thesis of the Temporary Framework, an agribusiness-sponsored measure to prevent the demarcation of tribal lands.
Fts: Pedro Biava / @ReViraLata pic.twitter.com/qcsJsfgl46
— Nacho Lemus (@LemusteleSUR)
June 7, 2023
The break in analysis for two years allowed Ruralista and Bolsonaro MPs to advance the issue in the chamber, where the schedule was urgently approved last week.
Evangelical judge André Mendonça, appointed to the STF by then-President Jair Bolsonaro, will be the second minister to vote, only behind Alexandre de Moraes, the author of the review motion. In 2021, Bolsonaro expressed confidence that Mendonça would vote for the Ruralista thesis upon his arrival at the STF. C
The process, which the judges are re-analyzing, relates to the ownership of the territory of the Xokleng people of Santa Catarina. This is a reclamation lawsuit filed in 2009 by the state government for the Ibirama-Laklãnõ indigenous land declared in 2003, which is home to more than 2,000 indigenous peoples, including the Guarani and Kaingang peoples.
Should the term become law, virtually all indigenous territories demarcated as isolated would be wiped out.
In addition to the indigenous people themselves, who have demonstrated against the thesis of the process, the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil has legally classified the temporary framework as genocide because it would allow near-open access to areas inhabited by people who have had no contact with society and even with other peoples.
“It is a serious attack on tribal peoples and the environment. We keep fighting for life. Even in the Senate we will talk about it to avoid trading our lives in exchange for profit and destruction. We won’t give up!” said Chief Portfolio Officer Sonia Guajajara.
Indigenous leaders in Brazil are asking the Supreme Court to protect their land rights
A group of indigenous leaders, activists and cultural figures protested in Sao Paulo Wednesday to ask Brazil’s Supreme Court to protect indigenous peoples’ rights to their lands, the same day a crucial trial on the issue was taking place.
Crying “Save the Amazon!”, indigenous representatives in traditional headgear asked the highest court to abolish the so-called “temporary framework,” a legal thesis aimed at limiting peoples’ rights to the territories they previously occupied the 1988 Constitution.
Indigenous leader Márcio Verá, representing the Jaraguá indigenous country, asserted that the “temporary framework” aims to “deprive” indigenous peoples of their constitutionally recognized rights to prioritize agricultural producers and reiterated his trust in the Supreme Court speak up for “humanity”.
“The time frame is a disaster for the environment, for the air we breathe. We, the indigenous people, are protectors of nature, custodians of the jungle, while the time frame is a machine for destroying traditions, languages and customs,” he explained. .