AMERICA/BRAZIL - First report on violence against indigenous peoples

Brasilia (Agenzia Fides) - The Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) will present on 13 June the 2011 Annual Report on violence against indigenous peoples in Brazil. The presentation will take place at the headquarters of the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops (CNBB), with the presence and testimony of the indigenous who were abused as indicated in the report. The CIMI intends therefore to report the various forms of violations of the rights of indigenous peoples. "The data presented in this report reveal the assault on human dignity of the indigenous peoples of Brazil, their pain and their suffering," writes Mgr. Erwin Krautler, President of the CIMI and Bishop of the Prelature of Xingu (PA), in the text which introduces the report.
In the note sent to Fides Agency from the CNBB, the Executive Secretary of the CIMI, Cleber Buzatto, considers the report a document of warning and commitment, which can become a political tool. "We denounce the Brazilian society and international organizations, violence against indigenous peoples and at the same time, we draw the attention of public authorities to adopt measures which limit this violence," he explains. The published data provide information on violence against people (murders, threats, racism), violence against property (delays in the resolution of conflict on land, invasions of indigenous lands), violence for omission of intervention on behalf of the authorities (suicide, lack of health care, infant mortality), and violence against indigenous and isolated populations victims of the military dictatorship. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 06/06/2012)