Indigenous lands cannot be touched, historic ruling in Brazil

2023-09-22 07:55:00

Time.news – The Brazilian Supreme Court has ruled against the attempt to limit the rights of native peoples to protected reserves on their lands, with a victory for the indigenous people and environmentalists. At the heart of the case is the argument that indigenous peoples do not have the right to protected reserves on lands where they were not present in 1988, when the country’s current constitution was ratified.

The applicants instead argued that this violated their rights, given that many native groups were forced to abandon their ancestral lands, including during the military dictatorship that governed the Brazil from the 60s to the 80s. The result was a 9-2 vote by the Court judges, in favor of the indigenous people.

Indigenous leaders with bright feather headdresses and body paint exploded in celebration outside the High Court building in Brasilia: “Justice is on the side of the indigenous peoples,” he said Joania Wapichana, head of the government agency for indigenous affairs, FUNAI. Indigenous activists had dubbed the case the “trial of the century”.

Brazilian indigenous people rejoice over the Supreme Court’s decision

The only two judges who have ruled in favor so far were appointed by the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022), who kept his promise while in office not to create “one more centimeter” of protected indigenous reserves in Brazil.

Bolsonaro is an ally of Brazil’s powerful agri-food lobby, which has supported limiting the “timeframe.” He presided over the wave of destruction inBrazilian Amazon during his presidency, when average annual deforestation increased by more than 75% compared to the previous decade.

VICTORY! By majority vote, the @STF_oficial cancels the Time Frame. With minister Fux’s vote, the score goes to 6 votes against the ruralist thesis! The trial continues and we continue to pay attention so that no rights are negotiated! #MarcoTemporalNao

— Apib Oficial (@ApibOficial) September 21, 2023

Environmentalists had joined indigenous activists in pushing for the court to reject the calendar argument. Numerous studies have found that protected indigenous reserves are one of the best ways to combat deforestation and, with it, climate change.

The Constitution of Brazil makes no mention of a deadline for indigenous reserves, which currently cover 11.6% of Brazilian territory, particularly in the Amazon. The left-wing president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvawho defeated Bolsonaro in last year’s elections, has resumed creating indigenous reserves since taking office in January, and also created Brazil’s first indigenous affairs ministry.

Brazil has more than 700 recognized indigenous lands, although about a third are still waiting to be officially designated as reserves. The case was brought forward by the populations Xokleng, Guarani and Kaingang of the Ibirama-Laklano indigenous reserve in southern Brazil, part of which lost protected status when a lower court ruled that the groups were not living on the land in question in 1988. The Supreme Court ruling will set a legal precedent national level.

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