Brazil's highest court, the Federal Supreme Court, yesterday upheld the
conviction of genocide against four goldminers who murdered 16 Yanomami
Indians in 1993. The vote was unanimous.
Lawyers for the goldminers had
appealed against the original genocide ruling by a federal judge, which
was upheld by Brazil's highest tribunal. Now finally the matter can be
laid to rest.
The massacre of 16 Yanomami of Haximú
community in Venezuela, was carried out by 22 Brazilian goldminers
working illegally in the area. In a savage attack, the miners shot old
people, women, and children and slashed a baby with a machete.
Four
goldminers received sentences of between 19 and 20 years for the crime
of genocide and are still serving their sentences in jail. The UN
convention on genocide, ratified by Brazil, states that the
killing with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national,
ethnical, racial or religious group' is genocide.
The Supreme Court's ruling is highly significant and sends an important
warning to those who continue to commit crimes against indigenous
peoples in Brazil.
