The Arns Commission demands urgent measures from Moro to protect Indigenous lands

The growing number of invasions of Indigenous lands and the worrying fragility of these populations in the face of the new coronavirus pandemic led the Arns Commission to file an official letter to the Ministry of Justice(Ministério da Justiça – MJ) on April 20. The document requests Minister Sergio Moro to take urgent measures to protect Indigenous lands and the integrity of Indigenous peoples.

In this pandemic context, the invasions have devastating effects on the survival of these populations. The first Ianomami to die from COVID-19 – a 15-year-old-boy – contracted the virus in an area invaded by a mining operation that has long been denounced. There is also a special concern for the isolated and recently-contacted Indigenous peoples – the most vulnerable among the already vulnerable – whose interdicted lands are being threatened even by missionaries.

Faced with the possibility of a catastrophic death toll among Indigenous peoples, and even the extinction of some groups, the Arns Commission demands that the Ministry of Justice and Public Security mobilize its Security Forces to prevent the invasion of Indigenous lands and to expel, in accordance with the law, invaders from all such lands, as well as from areas interdicted for the protection of isolated peoples.

In addition, it asks to be duly informed of the actions carried out by the Ministry of Justice to protect Indigenous peoples and repel the invasions of their lands, whose original right was recognized by Article 231 of the Constitution, and whose protection is the responsibility of the Federal Government.

The letter also recalls that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR/OAS) adopted, on April 10, 2020, Resolution No. 1, which recommends that States and Governments not only protect Indigenous peoples as historically excluded groups at great risk, but also respect the voluntary isolation of Indigenous peoples or their isolated segments, due to the very serious impacts that spreading the could represent for the subsistence and survival of these populations.

Photo: Jardy Lopes / Portal Amazônia Real