PF informs that Dom and Bruno’s executors acted alone; Univaja contests

Bruno Pacheco – from Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – Investigations of the Federal Police of Amazonas (PF-AM) indicate that the executors of the journalist Dominic Phillips and Bruno Pereira indigenist acted alone, there is no principal or criminal organization behind the crime. The agency, however, declared, through a note, this Friday, 17, that the investigation continues and there are indications of participation of more people in the case. The Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Javari Valley (Univaja), in a statement, contested the outcome.

See also: Samples collected from suspect’s boat are inconclusive for Bruno Pereira and the Federal Police rules out the presence of Dom Phillips

“With this positioning, the PF disregards the qualified information, offered by Univaja in numerous letters, since the second half of 2021, the period of implementation of the EVU [Univaja Surveillance Team]. Such documents point to the existence of an organized criminal group acting in the constant invasions of the Vale do Javari Indigenous Land, of which Pelado and Do Santo are part” (sic), stated Univaja, in a statement.

“Pelado and Dos Santos” are the surnames, respectively, of the brothers Amarildo and Oseney da Costa Oliveira, arrested on suspicion of participating in the death of Dom and Bruno, who disappeared on June 5 on the way from the riverside community of São Rafael to the city of Atalaia do Norte, in the Vale do Javari region of Amazonas. The journalist and the indigenist had been threatened in the field days before the occurrence.

See also: ‘Justice for Dom and Bruno’: repercussion of the case mobilizes personalities on social networks

According to Univaja, the existence of a group of professional hunters and fishermen involved in the murder of Dom and Bruno was described by the EVU in letters sent to the Federal Public Ministry (MPF), the Federal Police and the National Indian Foundation (Funai). The indigenous entity claims that it reported the names of the invaders, members of the criminal organization, and methods of operation.

Among the methods described, Univaja pointed out, are how the criminal organization enters and leaves the Vale do Javari Indigenous Land, the illicit goods they take and the types of boats they use in their illegal activities in the region.

“It was because of this that Bruno Pereira became one of the central targets of this criminal group, as well as other members of Univaja who received death threats, including through anonymous notes. The press release issued by the Federal Police today (June 17, 22) corroborates what we have already highlighted: the competent authorities, responsible for protecting the territory and our lives, have ignored our complaints, minimizing the damage, even after the murders of our partners, Pereira and Phillips” (sic), the indigenous entity reported in the document.

Univaja also stresses that the “refinement of cruelty” used in the commission of the crime shows that Pereira and Phillips were in the path of a powerful criminal organization that tried at all costs to cover its tracks during the investigation.

“This context evidences that it is not just a matter of two executioners, but of an organized group that minimally planned the details of this crime. We demand the continuity and deepening of the investigations. We demand that the Federal Police consider the qualified information that we have already passed on to them in our letters. Only then will we have the opportunity to live in peace again in our territory, the Javari Valley”, demands Univaja.

Indigenous support

The Federal Police has been criticized by the national press for not acknowledging the support of indigenous people in the search for Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira. The media’s disapproval came about because of a press conference held by the agency on Wednesday night, 15, which was not attended by indigenous people who, like the PF-AM, are working in the operations to locate the journalist and the indigenous leader.

At the press conference, in which the finding of “human remains” in the region of the search for Dom and Bruno was officially confirmed, the absence of the indigenous people at the interview table was even questioned by a english journalist for the PF-AM. At the same moment, the superintendent of the Federal Police in Amazonas, delegate Eduardo Fontes, said that it was a mistake “not to mention” the work of local riverine and indigenous people in the operations.

“In fact, it was a mistake not to mention the work that was done in partnership with the riverside dwellers and the local indigenous people. Many of them accompanied us in the boats, in the aircrafts, and so their support was fundamental when there was, obviously, security for them”, acknowledged Fontes, when answering the first question asked at the press conference.

In the note of this Friday, 17, the Federal Police again acknowledged the support of indigenous people and members of Univaja in the search for the boat used by Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips and also clarified that with the progress of the investigations, new arrests should be made.

Check out the Federal Police note in full:

Check out Univaja’s note in full: