SOS from Indigenous Tribes in Brazil

Press Release from EMA member, Philippa Attwood, and founder of Futuro Nativo in coordination with APIB Oficial

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 6th, 2021 - We are sending out an urgent SOS and update regarding the human rights and environmental crisis unfolding in Brazil at this very moment. We are requesting urgent international action, attention and support on the matter concerning the Articulation of The Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) and the legislation the Brazilian Government is likely to pass. Brazilian legislators need to know their decision this Wednesday, September 8th 2021 will not only endanger Brazil and the Indigenous Peoples, but all of humanity.

On Wednesday, September 8th, the Federal Supreme Court verdict on “Marco Temporal” and bills PL 3729, PL 2633 & PL490 are expected to be announced. If any of the bills pass, it will be nearly impossible to salvage whatever remains of the rainforest, let alone to hold on to what is left of the environmental rights and human rights that protect the Indigenous Peoples and the Amazon. A drastic increase in international awareness is vital if we want to put a stop to this irreversible domino-effect and ‘cascading system collapse,’. Consequently, we reserve the right to comment on behalf of future generations to demand that the Brazilian Congress defeat these bills categorically. This issue is NOT only an internal Brazilian concern, but an issue that affects the entire future of human and animal life on Earth.

On behalf of the Local leaders from the Brazilian Congress and the Indigenous People of Brazil, please heed this call for HELP. The details are as follows:

● On Wednesday, September 8th, the Federal Supreme Court verdict about the “Marco Temporal” is expected to be announced. These bills include the PL 3729 (that affects Environmental Licensing), the PL 2633 (concerns matters on land grabbing), the PL 490 and the PL 6299 (that will demarcate indigenous land). If passed, the Brazilian government will allow an unprecedented mining and deforestation of the Amazonia, causing rapid acceleration towards climate catastrophe and bringing us dangerously close to the irreversible tipping point.

● The PL490, a bill that proposes to transfer to the National Congress the ability to anul the demarcation of indigenous land. APIB (Brazil’s Indigenous People Articulation) is calling upon the International Community to join their fight to prevent this illegal bill from passing - thus allowing the government to steal land that is rightfully owned by the indigenous peoples of Brazil — and hand foreign agents use of water resources and energy potentials, thus a complete “Disrespect of the Constitution.”

● If the Brazilian government succeeds in changing the constitution and enacting legislation to strip rights protecting the natural biomes of Brazil, an irreversible cascading collapse will be set in motion causing severe climate disruption on a global scale, significant degradation of the Amazon rainforest and cataclysmic rapid desertification of the Amazon Basin.

● According to renowned climate scientist Alzenir Ferreira de Souza, “The destruction of

the Amazon has the potential to be a ‘Doomsday Bomb,’ causing planet-wide environmental destruction.” Furthermore, The Intercept notes that “over the last 50 years, about 20% of the Rainforest has been burned or cut away.” As the current fires rage on and the policies that led to them continue to exist, another 20% — 300,000 square miles — could soon be gone as well. Futurism.com surmises that If this all comes to pass, leading scientists warn of a ‘cascading system collapse,’ in which the Amazon’s eco-system begins to completely crumble while releasing a planet-devastating amount of stored carbon in the process."

● Passage of these bills would additionally pose a future threat to the lives of the Indigenous population. Since the beginning of the Bolsonaro administration (2019-2020) we have seen a 25 percent increase in land-related conflicts in Brazil as demonstrated on November 1, 2019 when Pualo Paulino Guajajara was murdered by illegal loggers while trying to protect his land and its people. Furthermore, Peaceful demonstrations by Indigenous people have been met with harsh brutality by police and others.

● The International Complaints Dossier released last week by APIB, documents the many offenses against the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil and has been filed with the International Criminal Court at the Hague calling for the investigation into crimes of genocide and ecocide, and states, "Given the current threatening context that impacts not only the life of indigenous peoples but the entire socio-environmental integrity of their lands, with direct consequences in further aggravating the climate and environmental crisis that affects the entire planet, APIB asks for support from its partners network."

● The National Indian Foundation (FUNAI), who are in charge of protecting the indigenous peoples and handling land demarcation processes, have been targeted specifically by the government reflected in the increasingly further lack of financial resources. Agencies are not the only ones being attacked, prominent individuals are experiencing similar treatment as demonstrated when Sônia Guajajara, was summoned by the Federal Police for producing the web series Maracá2.

● Data from the 2010 census held by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), indicates that the Brazil indigenous population is 817,963 individuals. According to the same data, the total number of families affected by conflicts annually in Brazil is 171,625, of whom 57% are Indigenous families. Allowing these bills to pass will undoubtedly lead to the endangerment and further denigration of 817,963 indigenous peoples’ rights.

● 2020 marked a record-breaking number of mining on Indigenous lands (2020) while according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, in October 2020 50% of the original flora in this biome was lost due to the outbreak of 2,835 fires in the Cerrado.

● As accounted in commontimes.org, “encouraged by President Jair Bolsonaro, deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest surged to its highest annual level in a decade over the past year, with researchers warning that the accelerated destruction of the critical carbon sink is imperiling the ability to keep planetary heating below the Paris climate agreement’s 1.5 percent target. Imazon, a Brazilian research institute whose mission is to promote conservation and sustainable development, reported Thursday that from August 2020 to July 2021, 10,476 square kilometers of Amazon rainforest were destroyed, a 57% increase over the previous 12-month period.”

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1. SIGN THE GLOBAL LETTER 

2. FOLLOW + SHARE:

Follow @apiboficial for live updates from the front lines and please share with anyone who you feel heed the call.

3. DONATE:

www.apiboficial.org (Donations will go directly to providing food, water and aid to those on the frontlines and much needed resources support us in our fight to protect the Amazon)

CONTACT: info@futuronativo.org IG: @futuronativo