Indigenous Teacher in Danger after Violent Eviction in Brazil

UA 306/09, AMR 19/020/2009. (PDF here, html (web) page here.)

A Brazilian Indigenous teacher, Mr Rolindo Vera, has been missing since October 30. He and other indigenous people were violently evicted from land they had occupied in accordance with their clam as it being their ancestral land. The body of another male teacher who was taken away at the same event was found in a nearby river showing signs of torture. Mr Vera's life is in grave danger, but the federal police of Brazil has already abandoned their serach for him.

Please write immediately, and before 25 December, to

• demand that the Federal Police, working with their counterparts in Paraguay, resume their search, doing everything in their power to find Rolindo Vera;
• call on the authorities to launch an immediate and thorough investigation into the violent eviction of around 25 people from farmlands near the border town of Paranhos and the subsequent death of Genivaldo Vera, and to bring those responsible to justice;
• urge the authorities to fulfill their obligations under the International Labour Organisation’s Convention 169, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Brazilian constitution by demarcating lands to be returned to Indigenous communities.

Please send appeals to:

Federal Minister of Justice
Exmo. Sr. Tarso Genro
Esplanada dos Ministérios,
Bloco "T"
70712-902 - Brasília/DF Brasil
Fax: + 55 61 3322 6817/ 3224 3398
(Salutation: Exmo. Sr. Ministro/ Dear Minister)

Federal Human Rights Secretary
Secretaria Especial de Direitos Humanos
Exmo. Secretário Especial
Sr. Paulo de Tarso Vannuchi Esplanada dos Ministérios-
Bloco "T" - 4º andar, 70064-900 -Brasília/DF Brasil
Fax: + 55 61 3226 7980
(Salutation: Exmo. Sr. Secretário)

Please send copies to:

Conselho Indigenista Missionário,
(CIMI – local NGO)
CIMI Regional Mato Grosso do Sul
Av. Afonso Pena, 1557 Sala 208 Bl.B
79002-070 Campo Grande/MS, Brasil
Email: cimims@terra.com.br

Please also send copies to the Brazilian mission abroad which is closest to you.

My letter is below:

Federal Minister of Justice
Exmo. Sr. Tarso Genro
Esplanada dos Ministérios,
Bloco "T"
70712-902 - Brasília/DF Brasil
Fax: + 55 61 3322 6817/ 3224 3398

Ole Koksvik
Philosophy, RSSS
The Australian National University ACT 0200
AUSTRALIA 20/11/2009


RE: ROLINDO VERA

Dear Minister,

My name is Ole Koksvik. I am a Norwegian citizen, an Australian Permanent Resident, a PhD Candidate at the Australian National University.

It has come to my attention that Mr Rolindo Vera, a teacher and member of the Guarani Kaiowa Indigenous group, went missing on 30 October this year. This followed a violent eviction carried out by armed men in Mato Groso do Sul, near Paraguay. Since the body of another teacher, Genivaldo Vera, who also went missing during the eviction, was later found showing signs of torture, I consider Mr Rolindo Vera to be in extremely grave danger.

It is extremely disconcerting to learn that the Federal Police has already called off their search for Mr Vera.

I demand that the federal police immediately resume their search, and that, collaborating with their counterparts in Paraguay, do absolutely everything in their power to find Rolindo Vera immediately.

I call on you to immediately launch a thorough investigation into the violent eviction of around 25 people from farmlands near the border town of Paranhos and the subsequent death of Genivaldo Vera, and to bring those responsible to justice.

I urge you to fulfill your obligations under the International Labour Organisation’s Convention 169, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Brazilian constitution by demarcating lands to be returned to Indigenous communities. Do not delay this process any futher.

Thank you for taking the time to read my concerns.

Your sincerely,

Ole Koksvik