WBO and International Partners Repudiate Adoption of 'Timeframe'
WBO Press release
June 7, 2023
Organizations insist that the law against Indigenous peoples be overturned in the Senate and in the Supreme Court
For the signatories, Brazil is at a decisive crossroads regarding the rights of Indigenous peoples and the defense of the environment
On Wednesday, June 7, the Washington Brazil Office (WBO) joined six other international partner organizations to repudiate the adoption of Law 490/2007, which threatens Indigenous peoples and the preservation of the environment in Brazil. In addition to the WBO, Amazon Watch, Amnesty International, Rainforest Action Network, Rainforest Foundation US, Rainforest Foundation Norway and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights have criticized the law that is known as "Marco Temporal" (Timeframe).
"The enactment of this project would represent a direct threat not only to the territories currently occupied by Indigenous peoples, but also to those they traditionally own, occupy or use", says the text of the letter, referring to the law that was approved by the Chamber of Deputies in the May 30th and will be analyzed in the Senate as Law 2903/2023.
The text provides that no new Indigenous land can be demarcated if it has not been recognized as such by 1988, the year of the adoption of the current Brazilian constitution. The organizations that sign the letter consider that there is a constitutional contradiction in the text of the law, since “the Brazilian Constitution recognizes the right of Indigenous communities to the lands they have historically inhabited, without imposing time restrictions or arbitrary deadlines. It explicitly places the responsibility for demarcating and safeguarding these indigenous territories on the federal government.”
The groups signing the statement recall that 176 indigenous people were murdered in Brazil in 2022 alone, according to data from Cimi (Conselho Indigenista Missionário).
The letter also draws attention to the fact that the Federal Supreme Court will vote this Wednesday, June 7 on a matter that has a direct impact on the constitutionality or not of the thesis of the "timeframe." For the organizations involved, the decisions taken at this time will have a decisive impact on the fate of indigenous communities that claim the right to their ancestral territories, where they have lived for generations.
