The Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR), which represents 255 communities and whose mission is to defend the rights of indigenous peoples, publicly expresses its repudiation of the escalation of violence and attacks against the Yanomami people.
For years, Yanomami relatives have been massacred, have their rights violated and disrespected by this illegal activity that is mining. Indigenous leaders and the Hutukara Yanomami Association (HAY) have already made numerous complaints of violence, invasions and cases of malaria and Covid-19 that are spreading in the indigenous land as a result of illegal mining.
In the face of all this, the CIR expresses full support for the Palimiú community that has witnessed the invasion of its territory and in protecting it has been attacked with firearms by miners. We demand protection for the indigenous population, especially the Yanomami people at this time of violence that the communities are suffering.
It is necessary for the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to order the immediate removal of the invaders from the Yanomami Indigenous Land and to oblige the Union to create an URGENT plan to protect and combat illegal mining in the Indigenous Lands.
Faced with the lack of action by the government to adopt effective measures, we have seen that mining activity in indigenous lands has reached alarming rates to the point that defenders are not afraid to publicize and defend their crimes, and even prevent the state from fighting illegality.
Institutions cannot remain inert in the face of the serious threats and violence committed in the Indigenous Lands caused by mining. The Union cannot omit to fulfill its constitutional competence to protect and ensure respect for all the assets of indigenous peoples, as required by our Constitution, the Federal Constitution of 1988.
Boa Vista - RR, May 12, 2021
INDIGENOUS COUNCIL OF RORAIMA