Settlers take missionaries hostage and destroy Catholic mission in
indigenous area
Yesterday a group of about 200 Brazilian settlers invaded the Catholic
mission of Surumu, in the Raposa Serra do Sol indigenous reserve, in the northern
Amazon state of Roraima. They took three missionaries hostage. Local television
showed them with their hands tied, forced to stand outside in the hot sun. The
mission, which has a hospital and school catering for the indigenous population,
was ransacked. All roads to the area have been blocked by the settlers, and the
police are trying to negotiate the release of the missionaries who come from
Brazil, Colombia and Spain. Settlers and their supporters are also protesting in
the state capital, Boa Vista.
For decades the Makuxi and other tribes who live in Raposa Serra do Sol have
been campaigning for the territory to be 'ratified'. Although it has been mapped
and demarcated, it still awaits the presidential signature approving the
demarcation, promised since 1998. Brazil's minister of justice announced on 23
December that the president would ratify the area and remove the 7,000
non-Indian inhabitants who are rice cultivators, farmers and cattle
ranchers.
A spokesman for the Indigenous Council of Roraima said today that
'ratification of Raposa Serra do Sol is the barometer measuring the
attitude of the Lula government. If it acts now, Indians throughout Brazil will
take this as a sign of the government's commitment to upholding their
rights.' Despite his manifesto promises to respect the rights of
Brazil's indigenous peoples, one year of government by President Luiz Inácio
Lula da Silva has seen a huge increase in violence against Indians, lack of
progress on giving them back their land, increased militarisation in indigenous
areas, and threats to indigenous health care.
Meanwhile the UK government, at the start of the final year of the UN Decade
of Indigenous Peoples, is considering cutting back its funding for the
protection of the Amazon rainforest and its tribal peoples.
Survival's director Stephen Corry said today, 'The hopes of Brazil's
Indians were dashed in 2003. To avoid further violence in 2004, Lula must take
their rights to their land seriously, and start by ratifying Raposa Serra do
Sol.'
For more information contact Miriam Ross on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or email mr@survival-international.org
