Under calls for help, lawmakers follow up on investigations into the case of Dom and Bruno and hear the indigenous people of Atalaia do Norte

Bruno Pacheco – Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – Exactly 15 days after the “human remains” of journalist Dominic Mark Phillips and indigenist Bruno da Cunha Araújo Pereira were found in the Amazon, where they were murdered and dumped in a ditch, a group of congressmen from the House and Senate arrived on Thursday, 30, to the city of Atalaia do Norte (1,136 kilometers from Manaus) to monitor the case and hear indigenous leaders on invasions, deaths and threats in Vale do Javari, in the countryside of the state.

See also: Congressmen set date to visit the Javari Valley, where Dom and Bruno were murdered

In a meeting marked by requests for help and more security, which took place at the headquarters of the Union of Indigenous Peoples of Vale do Javari (Univaja), in Atalaia do Norte, and included members of the Federal Public Ministry (MPF), National Justice Council (CNJ) and Supreme Court (STF). The committee is part of the external commissions of the National Congress created to investigate the murders, the increase in crime and attacks in the Northern Region of the country.

A region located on the triple border, Brazil-Peru-Colombia, the Javari Valley is located in Atalaia do Norte and has the constant presence of drug trafficking and illegal fishing that feed off each other. With dense forests and dangerous waterways, the indigenous territory has 26 peoples, is the second largest in the country, and has the largest number of isolated peoples in the world. The region also deals with illegal mining and other crimes that end up financing the drug traffic that, through the Amazon rivers, expands every day.

For the president of the House’s External Commission, federal lawmaker José Ricardo (PT/AM), the federal and state governments are responsible for the lack of security in Atalaia do Norte. At the meeting, the parliamentarian recalled the approval of the request for more security for indigenous leaders in the region.

“We heard many reports, many denunciations. There was a lot of omission by the public authorities. And everything that we found out here will be included in the Commission’s report”, said Lawmaker José Ricardo.

Besides José Ricardo, the following federal lawmakers are in Atalaia do Norte: Joenia Wapichana (Commission vice-president), Vivi Reis (rapporteur), Erika Kokay, João Daniel and Rodrigo Agostinho. Among the senators are Randolfe Rodrigues (president of the Senate External Commission), Fabiano Contarato (vice-president), Leila Barros and Eduardo Velloso.

State presence

On social networks, Representative Erika Kokay (PT-BR) published a video showing the arrival of the Commission at the headquarters of Univaja and highlighted that the initiative also aims to ensure the presence of the State in the fight against crimes in the region.

“We will listen to the main demands of the indigenous people, especially for the protection of the isolated peoples and the continuity of the work that Bruno Pereira was developing”, the congresswoman wrote in a publication on Twitter.

Senator Fabiano Cantarato (PT-ES) also highlighted the committee’s trip to the countryside of Amazonas and also commented that the parliamentarians in Vale do Javari demand severity in the investigation of the murders of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira.

“Official mission of senators and federal lawmakers in Vale do Javari to listen to the indigenous people attacked by criminals and abandoned by the federal government. The parliamentarians also demand rigor in the investigation of the brutal murder of Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips”, Contarato wrote on Twitter while sharing a photo of the delegation’s trip.

Tabatinga

According to the parliamentary advisory board of lawmaker José Ricardo, new meetings should take place in Atalaia do Norte and in the neighboring municipality of Tabatinga (1,107 kilometers from Manaus) where officials of the National Indian Foundation (Funai), city councilors, other indigenous leaders, and the task force responsible for investigating the murders of Dom and Bruno will be heard.