Brasília, Brazil – Today, in a move met with outrage, Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies approved Bill 490/2007 by 283 votes to 155. The bill changes the formal titling and recognition of Indigenous land, known as the demarcation process, and permits water and energy exploration in Indigenous territories, along with potentially devastating mining operations. This decision has sparked a nationwide wave of Indigenous and environmentalist protests and international solidarity.
The right to territory is a fundamental Indigenous right, and therefore this bill violates not only the Brazilian Federal Constitution but also international standards such as the International Labour Organization Convention 169 and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. There was no prior consultation before its passage and the Indigenous movement came out strongly against this bill.
The decision of Brazilian Chamber of Deputies President Arthur Lira and his supporters is a direct assault on the rights of Indigenous peoples, amounting to what some are describing as “legislated genocide.” Besides being a matter that would not be within the competence of Congress to vote on – since the right to land is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Brazilian Constitution – the approval of this law will increase violence in the countryside and legal insecurity over land rights because it makes the allocation of public lands much more difficult. This will ramp up conflicts, contributing to the violation of a series of human rights. It’s also a direct threat to the Amazon rainforest and other biomes, which are protected by Indigenous communities.
Earlier today, Sonia Guajajara, Minister of Indigenous Peoples, emphasized the severity of the situation during a press conference held in the Green Room of the Chamber of Deputies. She spoke of the urgent need for land demarcation, or the formal titling and recognition of Indigenous land, to meet international commitments regarding environmental protection and Indigenous peoples’ rights and to mitigate the impact of the climate crisis. She warned that failing to demarcate Indigenous lands could cause significant harm not only to Indigenous communities but also to the Brazilian economy.
After the press conference, Guajajara, alongside Indigenous leaders and allied deputies, met with Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco. Pacheco has committed to scrutinizing the bill’s constitutionality and ensuring a thorough analysis of the text, promising to include consultations with Indigenous peoples and other parties interested in the matter. In a poignant statement, Guajajara underscored the gravity of the lawmakers’ decision: “The lawmakers who voted today in favor of this project will go down in history as responsible for approving a bill that explicitly attacks the lives of Indigenous peoples in Brazil.”
The Associations of Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples (APIB) in their official statement reinforced that “THE FIGHT CONTINUES” and that the mobilizations of the Indigenous movement against this anti-Indigenous proposal will continue in the Senate. Additionally, APIB believes that the Supreme Court will defend the rights guaranteed in the Brazilian Constitution against the Marco Temporal, a time-bound legal framework “thesis” that restricts Indigenous lands rights to the signing of the Brazilian Constitution in 1988, which also supports Bill 490/2007.
If the majority of the Chamber of Deputies already made its voice clear and is trying to keep its genocidal and ecocidal agenda. We now expect the Brazilian Senate to show that it can do better and make a difference, standing by the right side – the side of the Brazilian Constitution and of the Indigenous Peoples. Amazon Watch is on that side as well.
