Indigenous association calls on STF for immediate removal of miners from Yanomami land

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Articulation of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) on Tuesday filed a petition with Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court (STF) to order the immediate removal of illegal miners from Yanomami indigenous land, following reports of an attack by armed men in the territory the day before.

In the petition to STF Justice Luís Roberto Barroso, the association states that this was the third attack in the area this year and calls on the government to explain what “measures are being taken to monitor the Yanomami Indigenous Territory” with the aim of preventing the presence of illegal miners and guaranteeing the indigenous people’s freedom of movement and safety.

The indigenous people want the removal of invaders urgently “due to the imminence of genocide and the escalating spread of malaria and Covid-19 in the Indigenous Territory by illegal miners,” according to the document.

“The situation in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory is serious and tense. The indigenous people are under permanent threat from miners. The reality is a harbinger of genocide. It is necessary that the Yanomami’s cry for help be heard,” APIB said.

The request was forwarded to Barroso due to the fact that he is the Rapporteur for a lawsuit filed last year concerning the measures the federal government has taken to fight the coronavirus in indigenous villages.

According to the Yanomami, illegal miners opened fire inside the reserve in Roraima with automatic weapons against an indigenous community that opposes their entrance through the river.

The Yanomami retaliated with bows and arrows and rifles, wounding 4 of the attackers during the 30-minute clash on Monday morning, said on Tuesday Dario Kopenawa, head of the Hutukara Yanomami Association. An indigenous man was grazed, he said in a report to FUNAI (National Indian Foundation), the Brazilian Army, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office and the police.

Experts say the miners are probably trying to prevent the Yanomamis from blocking their access to the gold mines.

Conflicts in the Amazon’s largest indigenous reserve have become increasingly violent in recent months as the Yanomami oppose the invasion of over 20,000 illegal miners on their land.

Kopenawa, son of leader and shaman Davi Kopenawa, said the miners have threatened to return to avenge their injuries and called for action by the authorities to protect the community.

FUNAI said it is investigating the “alleged clash” and criticized reports for being based on a one-sided report, declining further comment.

Some 26,800 Yanomamis live in a reserve larger than Portugal and extending over 96,650 square kilometers on the Venezuelan border.

The Yanomamis blame gold miners for introducing malaria and, since last year, Covid-19 which has killed 9 of their inhabitants. Miners also pollute rivers with mercury used to separate gold from ore.

The government of President Jair Bolsonaro has advocated commercial mining on indigenous lands and proposed legislation to legalize miners. This approach encourages more and more miners to invade Yanomami land.

Bolsonaro has appointed a Federal Police detective to head FUNAI and has slashed funding for employees and their ability to protect communities.

The Catholic Church’s Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) criticized the latest attack on the Yanomami and said Bolsonaro is not doing enough to ward off miners.

“It is in the federal government that mining finds its main ally today. President Bolsonaro has openly expressed on several occasions his support and encouragement for illegal mining activity within indigenous lands,” CIMI said in a statement.