In December of this year, the indigenous peoples of Brazil won the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the rights in the reservation of Raposa Serra do Sol which is found on the border between Brazil, Guyana, and Venezuela. The court decision ends a tumultuous 30-year battle for ancestral homeland rights. The indigenous peoples are composed of the tribes of Makuxi, Wapixana, Ingarikó, Taurepang, and Patamona.

The ancestral land that used to be in question, called Raposa Serra do Sol, measures 1.7 million hectares. It is the homeland of around 20,000 people. The fight for the land had been violent. Tribe members were killed. Hundreds were beaten. Local landlords, settlers, and the military police destroyed the tribes’ homes and livestock. If the courts supported the tribes, the state government of Brazil did not. The reservation is seen as a threat to national sovereignty. Government supported more the illegal settlers and land grabbing
farmers in the area.

Large-scale rice farming prospers illegally in the reservation. The indigenous peoples had suffered violently in the hands of these landgrabbers through petrol bombs and shooting attacks. Under international human rights laws, indigenous peoples are mandated to be protected. If the force of law is ensured, indigenous tribes need not suffer violence and social deprivation any more. Other reservations await ratification such as those of Guarani in Mato Grosso do Sul.

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Via Amnesty International