‘Nothing has changed’, says Univaja’s legal advisor after one year of Dom and Bruno’s death

Ívina Garcia – From Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – Completing one year this Monday, 5th, the murders of the indigenous activist Bruno da Cunha Araújo Pereira, 41, and the British journalist Dominic Mark Phillips, 57, in the Vale do Javari Indigenous Land, put a spotlight on the security problems on the border: illegal fishing, drug trafficking and threats to indigenous people are some of the critical points of the web of insecurity that has not ceased since the crime made national and international headlines.

Dom and Bruno disappeared on June 5, 2022, on the way between the Ribeirinha São Rafael community and the city of Atalaia do Norte (1,136 kilometers from the Amazonas capital, Manaus). At the time, the Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Javari Valley (Univaja) issued a note requesting help in the search.

Read more: Hunger and neglect: problems in Vale do Javari go beyond lack of security

One year after the crime, the Federal Court is judging the involvement of four people involved in the murders, they are: Amarildo da Costa Oliveira, known as “Pelado”; Oseney da Costa Oliveira; Jefferson da Silva Lima, known as “Pelado da Dinha” and Ruben Villar Coelho, known as “Colombia”, pointed out as the principal of the murders and supplier of the weapons and boat, for Pelado, Oseney and Jefferson to execute the plan.

At the time, the June edition of the CENARIUM MAGAZINE featured articles about the insecurity of activism and indigenous peoples in the Amazon after the murders of Dom and Bruno, recalling the crimes against other important names in the movement, such as Dorothy Stang, Chico Mendes, José Claudio, and Maria do Espírito Santo.

Despite this, indigenous leaders of the region and representatives of Univaja continue to report that nothing has changed with regard to security in the region. The legal advisor of Univaja, Eliesio Marubo, says that even with the change of government, after Jair Bolsonaro (PL) left the presidency with the victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and the creation of the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples (MPI), under the command of Sonia Guajajara, none of the proposed work was put into practice.

“We want to say that nothing has changed. The Javari Valley is still at the mercy of organized crime. Although we have made a planning with the new government indicating the possibility of action for each activity. Even in the first hundred days of the new government, unfortunately, we have not had any response in this regard”, he says.

Since the murders took place, indigenous leaders continue to be threatened and coerced in the region. Stolen boats, kidnapping, invasion of villages and conflicts continue to be part of the routine of those who live in Vale do Javari. In addition, the people of the region still have to deal with hunger and lack of assistance.

“We do not have, on the part of the Brazilian system, any indication that investigations are continuing in order to dismantle this organized crime that acts in the region. Organized crime that has spread to many areas of society. In politics, in commerce, among so many other areas that need, in fact, an effective action from the authorities. The current situation continues just as it was at the time of Dom and Bruno’s death”, reveals the legal advisor.

Read more:

Indigenous report attacks by fishermen in Javari Valley and PF opens investigation
In the AM, indigenous people of Vale do Javari are threatened with gunfire; ‘We fear new deaths
Hooded men invade village and threaten chief in Vale do Javari

Commitment

In February 2023, representatives of the federal government were in Vale do Javari, in a meeting at the headquarters of Univaja to listen to the leaders of each ethnic group about the problems of the region and signed a letter of commitment to meet the demands.

In the document delivered to the representatives, Univaja asked for new competitions for police officers in the region, reform of the Funai operational base, which is currently deactivated in Atalaia do Norte, because it is close to a ravine that caved in, and reinforcement in the security of environmentalists and indigenous people, continuous inspection and advanced monitoring of isolated indigenous people.

“That we can bring effective public policies in other areas so that people have an alternative of not getting involved with organized crime and continuing to produce the evil that has caused us so much damage, especially with irreparable losses with the death of Dom and Bruno, of Maxwell, and so many people who are still threatened today”, Eliesio points out.

Read more: Under threats, indigenous leaders ask for security during meeting with government representatives

One month after the meeting, the Ministry of Justice and Public Safety (MJSP), through the Federal Police, under the command of the new superintendent, Umberto Ramos, installed the Nova Era Base, aiming to intensify security in the region. However, according to Eliesio Marubo, the demands of the Javari people go beyond ostensive actions and need to be more intelligent and effective for protection. “Our people need protection, our people need effective public policies that can in fact minimize all the impacts that organized crime has produced in our region”, he highlights.

The meeting was unprecedented in the region, according to Univaja’s coordinator, Beto Marubo. “They came invited by the indigenous leaders. The presence of a delegation of this size, invited by indigenous people, had never happened before”. The last ministerial visit to Atalaia do Norte took place in 2006, when the then Minister of Labor came to the city at the invitation of the mayor, who at the time had no connection with the indigenous agenda.

At the meeting, the minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sonia Guajajara, announced the end of the process against the indigenist Bruno Pereira. “Who should be here is the former president of Funai, signing the archiving (of the case against Bruno), but we are here to sign” said the Funai president.

Bruno was coordinator of isolated indigenous peoples and was removed in 2019 by the National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples (Funai). The indigenist was exonerated after coordinating an operation that expelled hundreds of miners from Indigenous Lands.

Read more: Under pleas for help, parliamentarians follow investigations into the Dom and Bruno case and hear indigenous people of Atalaia do Norte

Univaja

On Monday, 5, several mobilizations are scheduled to take place in Brasília, Rio de Janeiro, Campinas, Belém, Atalaia do Norte, London and Salvador, at different times, with rituals, debates and tributes in this one year without Dom and Bruno.