Brazil: Missionaries shocked at murder of indigenous leader in Amazon Rainforest

Image: Twitter(@UNHumanRights

Source: Fides/Scalabrinis/UN

Missionaries in Brazil say the murder of an indigenous leader in the country's rainforest sounds the alarm on recent policies that have opened up protected Amazon territory to mining.

Scalabrinian Missionaries in Brazil say the murder of an indigenous leader in the Amazon shines the light on a "truly alarming" situation that allows for the destruction of an extraordinary habitat for economic gain.

Emrya Wajãpi, leader of the indigenous Wajãpi people, was killed on July 23 in Amapá, a region in the far north of Brazil, bordering French Guyana.

According to witnesses he was stabbed to death by gold miners who entered the protected reserve of the Wajãpi community.

90% of the Amapá region is covered by the Amazon Rainforest and much of the area is officially protected, but recent government policy has opened the Amazon up to mining and this has led to growing encroachment on indigenous land - especially forests - by miners, loggers and farmers.

In a statement released after Emrya Wajãpi's murder, Sr Neusa de Fatima Mariano, superior general of the Scalabrinians, condemned his killing which she described as the "fruit of hate campaigns perpetrated against indigenous peoples."

Calling it an "operation to destroy the indigenous peoples of Brazil," Sr Neusa said "It is incredible how today there are exploiters of natural riches who, for their economic interests, have the possibility of entering the northern Amazon Forest and of killing a leader of the Wajãpi community."

She said they are openly allowed "to invade a territory, destroy a society, and devastate an extraordinary habitat".

Sr Neusa went on to declare the support of her Order for a campaign launched by the Brazilian bishops' Indigenous Missionary Council that has forcefully condemned the operation conducted by the government.

She expressed her belief that instead of nurturing hate talk, the Brazilian government should "encourage respect for indigenous peoples, take measures against the 'invasion of their land, uphold their rights".

Rights monitors have denounced the killing of Emrya Wajãpi and expressed concern that it is part of a global trend of attacks on environmentalists.

Statistics show that in 2018, more than 160 land and environmental defenders were killed-many of them Indigenous.

Highlighting his own, and the Church's concern for our common home and for the rights and dignity of all peoples, Pope Francis has called for a Special Assembly for the Amazon of the Synod of Bishops on the theme: Amazonia: New Paths for the Church and for an Integral Ecology that will take place in the Vatican in October 2019.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a statement: "The murder of Emrya Wajãpi, leader of the indigenous Wajãpi people, is tragic and reprehensible in its own right. It is also a disturbing symptom of the growing problem of encroachment on indigenous land - especially forests - by miners, loggers and farmers in Brazil.

The Brazilian Government's proposed policy to open up more areas of the Amazon to mining could lead to incidents of violence, intimidation and killings of the type inflicted on the Wajãpi people last week.

It is essential that the authorities react quickly and effectively to investigate this incident, and to bring to justice all those responsible in full accordance with the law. Furthermore, effective measures should be taken to save the lives and physical integrity of the Waiãpi people, including through protection of their territory by the authorities.

The protection of indigenous peoples, and the land on which they live, has been an important issue all across the world, not just in Brazil. While some progress has been made in recent years, we have also seen weak enforcement of existing laws and policies, and in some cases the dismantling of existing environmental and indigenous institutional frameworks, as appears now to be the case in Brazil.

I urge the Government of Brazil to act decisively to halt the invasion of indigenous territories and ensure the peaceful exercise of their collective rights to their land. When indigenous people are pushed off their lands, it is not just an economic issue. As the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples makes clear, it affects their entire way of life.

I call on the Government of Brazil to reconsider its policies towards indigenous peoples and their lands, so that Emrya Wajãpi's murder does not herald a new wave of violence aimed at scaring people off their ancestral lands and enabling further destruction of the rainforest, with all the scientifically-established ramifications that has for the exacerbation of climate change."