PN #62 - The serious setbacks of Bill 2903, an already recognized unconstitutionality

The Arns Commission expresses its concern about the approval of Bill 2903/2023 by the National Congress, which constitutes the greatest setback to the rights of indigenous peoples since the country's redemocratization.

The approval of the bill aims to create a norm that is hierarchically inferior to the Federal Constitution and, indirectly, to overcome an unconstitutionality already recognized by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) in the judgment of Extraordinary Appeal No. 1,017,365, on September 27, 2023.

At that time, the Court rejected, by a significant majority of 9 votes to 2, the thesis of the time frame, which is clearly incompatible with the constitutional guarantee of the right to the land of Brazil's indigenous peoples.

Our Constitutional Court has shown that it is mindful of its primary duty to protect the fundamental rights of minority and vulnerable social groups.

We would like to draw attention to the extremely serious setbacks contained in the proposal:

It allows the federal government to reclaim indigenous reserves for other purposes, due to “changes in the cultural characteristics of the indigenous community or other factors caused by the passage of time.” Indigenous reserves are areas that have already been definitively regulated and incorporated into the Union's patrimony;

It grants compensation to invaders who would not even have any rights over these areas;

It authorizes forced contact with indigenous peoples living in isolation, which deprives them of their fundamental right to self-determination.

The Commission also expresses its repudiation of the level of institutional crisis that has been stirred up by the Legislative Branch when the STF exercises one of its most noble duties: the protection of minority rights.

The demarcation of indigenous lands and the protection of their peoples is an unavoidable task of the Brazilian State and require the commitment, in good faith, of all branches of the Republic. We cannot go backwards.