Apib lawyer criticizes Moraes’ vote on Temporal Milestone: ‘in-between’

Adrisa De Góes – Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS (AM) – In evaluation of the suspension to the trial of the Temporary Framework of indigenous land, at the Supreme Court (STF), on Wednesday, 7, the lawyer of the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib), Mauricio Terena, criticized the understanding of the minister Alexandre de Moraes. The magistrate voted against the thesis, but came out in favor of ensuring that landowners who hold titles on lands inhabited by indigenous people have the right to compensation.

For the lawyer, Moraes recognized the colonization process and, therefore, “embarrassed himself”, which made him vote in favor of the indigenous struggle. “He said no to the Temporal Framework, but he also said that he has to create a middle ground. This is a legal analysis, but it is also political, because we are going home with no answers. The minister put this condition of prior compensation, which we already know takes time, that doesn’t work”, he criticized, during a broadcast on Youtube by Apib.

The Apib lawyer also showed dissatisfaction with the composition of the Court, which has, among its majority of members, white people. “There are only white people deciding our future. My uneasiness begins there. Because it is always white people who define our future. The time has come for us to mobilize, in the sense of saying: ‘we are tired of white people deciding our future'” said Terena.

The vote of Moraes

Justice Alexandre de Moraes voted against the thesis because he recognizes that, based on the promulgation of the 1988 Constitution, the possession of indigenous lands does not depend on the existence of a Temporal Landmark. The magistrate used as justification a case judged by the STF, of the Xokleng Indians, who in 1930 left the lands on which they lived due to conflicts. At the time, 244 of them died.

However, still during his vote, Moraes defended full compensation for expropriation to landowners in indigenous areas. According to him, there are people who had no knowledge of the existence of the original peoples in the localities. “When it is effectively recognized that the traditional land is indigenous, the indemnification should be complete. The bare land and all improvements. The fault, the omission, the lapse was on the part of the public authorities”, he said.

The trial

Stalled since 2021, the trial at the STF was resumed on Wednesday. However, it was again suspended after the request for examination by Minister André Mendonça, so that he can analyze the issue for the next 90 days. There is still no date set for the vote to be resumed.

So far, the score is 2 to 1 for the rejection of the legal thesis. Alexandre de Moraes and the rapporteur of the case, Luiz Edson Fachin, voted against, while Justice Nunes Marques voted in favor.