BRAZILIAN INDIANS DEMAND RIGHTS, FAULT GOB FOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 001325

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PNAT SOCI BR TIP
SUBJECT: BRAZILIAN INDIANS DEMAND RIGHTS, FAULT GOB FOR
POOR INDIGENOUS POLICIES

REF: A. BRASILIA 941


B. BRASILIA 985

C. BRASILIA 1000


1. (U) Summary. In his September 2002 "Commitment to the
Indigenous Peoples of Brazil," then-candidate Lula da Silva
recognized past GOB policy errors on indigenous issues and
pledged to create "a coherent indigenous policy" to address
land and other human rights issues. During Lula's first two
and a half years in office, however, there have been no
indications that his administration has created a coherent
nationwide policy to address indigenous needs. A number of
eligible areas await demarcation to become indigenous
territory but problems within the GOB's National Indian
Foundation (FUNAI) have made it difficult to process claims
quickly. The "Indigenous April" campaign and a recently
published Amnesty International (AI) report criticized the
GOB's lack of a clear indigenous policy and its failure to
demarcate land. End Summary.

The Demarcation Process and Indigenous Rights to Land
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2. (U) Approximately 400,000 indigenous people from 215
different "nations" live in Brazil. Although the Brazilian
indigenous population makes up .03% of the population, they
are constitutionally entitled to 11% of the land. The 1988
Constitution guarantees indigenous people the right to live
on or own land they traditionally occupied before the
formation of the Brazilian state or government.


3. (U) The process to turn land into an indigenous reserve,
or demarcation, requires that anthropologists and surveyors
verify that indigenous people have historically occupied an
area. The demarcation process is laboriously slow and it
usually takes years, if not decades, to settle a claim. In
public documents, the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI),
which is responsible for coordinating GOB indigenous policy,
admits that there are problems within the bureaucratic
process but claims that underfunding, understaffing,
corruption, and internal conflicts make it difficult to
quickly process claims.


4. (U) The GOB has declared that 580 that indigenous
territories are eligible for demarcation under the 1988
Constitution. Of these, 340 are awaiting "ratification"
while an additional 139 territories need "verification," two
different steps in the long process. Justice Minister Marcio
Thomaz Bastos pledged to complete the demarcation process for
the remaining 139 territories before the end of 2006. Given
the lengthy demarcation process and the GOB's past history on
demarcation, representatives from the Forum in Defense of
Indigenous Rights (FDDI),a group consisting of seven
different indigenous and pro-indigenous rights organizations,
doubt that GOB will meet this goal. (Note: On April 18,
President Lula signed a decree to create Raposa Serra Do Sol,
an Amazonian Indian reserve, in northern Brazil. Post will
report septel. End Note)

"Indigenous April"
--------------

5. (U) The FDDI launched "Indigenous April," a month long
nationwide indigenous rights campaign to criticize the GOB's
lack of a clear indigenous policy and its failure to quickly
demarcate land. In a number of public forums and press
releases, indigenous leaders announced that "President Lula
was one of the worst Presidents to guarantee indigenous
rights since the end of the military regime in 1985," and
faulted Lula's administration for demarcating the least
amount of indigenous land since the end of military rule in

1985. They further demanded an immediate end to violence and
access to food, health care, and other social services on
reservations.


6. (U) During the month, indigenous leaders released a
"Manifesto Against the Indian Policy of the Government" to
demand that the GOB create a National Council for Indigenous
Policies and immediately demarcate eleven pending claims.
The Manifesto further declared that the GOB is an
"anti-indigenous government" that "offers privileges to
colonial and non-indigenous cultures" during demarcation and
other judicial proceedings.


7. (U) On April 19, in celebration of Indigenous Peoples Day,
Lula asked for "patience" from indigenous people while FUNAI
worked to improve living conditions and demarcate land. Lula
declared that his "moral promise" to the indigenous
population not only included land demarcation, but the
creation of social programs on indigenous reservations and
communities as well. Justice Minister Bastos relayed Lula's
comments but went a step further by asking for forgiveness
from the indigenous community for the treatment they have
received from the GOB throughout history. Indigenous April
ended with a week long sit-in on the main Esplanade in
Brasilia, Federal District from April 24 to May 3.

AI Report on Indigenous Living Conditions
--------------

8. (U) Amnesty International (AI) recently published a report
entitled "Foreigners in our Own Country: Indigenous Peoples
in Brazil" that criticized the GOB's lack of a clear
indigenous policy and assessed living conditions among
Brazil's indigenous population. In the report, AI stated
that indigenous people continue to be victims of attacks,
killings, and other forms of discrimination and the GOB has
failed to meet its international and constitutional
obligations. The report supported indigenous claims that
GOB's failure to demarcate indigenous territories and the
slow demarcation process contributed to violence, racial
discrimination, and other human rights abuses. In
territories where federal protection was needed, the GOB has
failed to take action despite warnings from the OAS and other
international organizations, AI reported.


9. (U) According to AI, living conditions on reservations and
other indigenous communities are plagued with malnutrition,
poor health care, violence, alcoholism, and suicide. Infant
mortality rates have increased sharply this year. AI and the
indigenous community blamed the GOB for the malnutrition
deaths of 21 Guarani-Kaiowa indigenous children living on
reservations since January. (Note: Sao Paulo will provide
more information septel. End note.) The Brazilian National
Health Foundation (FUNASA) accredited the high infant
mortality rate to structural social and economic problems
within the Guarani-Kaiowa community and their inability to
access indigenous lands. FUNAI blamed the deaths on an
increase in the number of births on the Guarani-Kaiowa
reservation.


10. (U) In response to AI's report, the GOB admitted that it
had been negligent in protecting indigenous rights but had
made progress on its indigenous policies. The GOB noted that
Lula has recognized 43 indigenous territories and reserved
12% of Brazil's territory for indigenous reserves since he
took power in 2003. Indigenous Missionary Council
Vice-President Saulo Freitosa refuted this claim and
presented documents to the media to show that since 2003, the
GOB has only recognized 13 Indian ancestral lands, not 43.
(Note: The Indigenous Missionary Council is an Indigenous
Rights NGO sponsored by the Catholic Church. End note.)

Comment
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11. (SBU) Indigenous April demonstrated the high degree of
frustration in the indigenous community with sub-standard
living conditions on reservations, and with the GOB's
lumbering pace in the demarcation of land. AI's report
offered further proof that Brazil's indigenous population
deserves more attention from the GOB. Without more political
and economic clout, however, it remains to be seen whether
Brazil's indigenous population will ever receive the land and
other entitlements they are guaranteed under the 1988
Constitution.

DANILOVICH