2023-09-22 03:07:04
Indigenous people celebrate the emotional end of the trial outside the STF | Ana Paula Sabino / Funai
With the echo of joy, shouting and emotional crying from the more than 600 indigenous people who attended the trial in Praça dos Três Poderes, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) rejected, this Thursday (21/09), the thesis of “time frame” of demarcations.
The ruralist interpretation sought to establish the date of October 5, 1988 as the limit for the recognition of traditional indigenous occupation throughout the country.
“Look, there’s a movie in our minds, how many leaders fought for this, right?”, stated Setembrino Canlem, general chief of the Xokleng of Santa Catarina. An area of these people, the Ibirama-La Klãnõ Indigenous Land, was the target of the analysis of the action, Extraordinary Appeal (RE) 1017365, by the Supreme Court. “Our ancestors who fought and who are no longer here… So, this victory is theirs too”, he celebrated.
There were nine votes against the time frame: from ministers Edson Fachin, rapporteur of the case, Alexandre de Moraes, Cristiano Zanin, Luís Roberto Barroso, Dias Toffoli, Luiz Fux, Cármen Lúcia, Gilmar Mendes and Rosa Weber. Ministers André Mendonça and Nunes Marques voted in favor.
“Overcoming the time frame by the STF is a historic victory for indigenous peoples”, considers Juliana de Paula Batista, ISA lawyer. “The Federal Supreme Court affirms its greatness by protecting the fundamental rights of minorities. Today’s decision strengthens democracy and puts an end to one of the most sordid attempts to make indigenous rights unfeasible since the country’s redemocratization”, she comments.
Indigenous people watch the trial in the STF plenary | Felipe Sampaio / SCO / STF
The discussion has been ongoing in the Supreme Court since 2019, when the general repercussion of the case on the interpretation of article 231 of the Constitution, which provides for indigenous territorial rights, was recognized.
The court is expected to discuss, next week, the theses proposed by the ministers regarding the action, which address topics such as compensation for bare land to owners with land acquired in good faith and overlapping indigenous territories and also the proposal by minister Dias Toffoli, which may give Congress a period of 12 months to legislate on the regulation of paragraph 3 of article 231 of the Constitution, which provides for the possibility of mining and construction of hydroelectric plants in Indigenous Lands, which is currently prohibited.
“This is not the time to decide [sobre esse assunto] within the scope of the extraordinary appeal”, said Maurício Terena, legal coordinator at Apib. “In addition, we are very concerned about the current configuration of Congress, which is not favorable to us, indigenous peoples. We hope that this thesis is not included in the ruling and that the ministers are in fact bound by the legality and the vote of Minister Fachin, the object of the action”, he concluded.
For Joenia Wapichana, president of the National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples (Funai), the overthrow of the “time frame” is essential to continue the demarcation procedures. “We know that there are other challenges to be overcome, depending on the theses that will be voted on. There is concern about the issue of prior compensation and topics that go beyond the objective of the repercussion case, such as mining. So, a fight a day, a fight at a time. Today is the day to celebrate the final point in the time frame”, he highlighted, after the end of the STF session.
Indigenous people celebrate the end of the STF trial in Praça dos Três Poderes | Carlos Moura / SCO / STF
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