Probe shows no proof of invasion in indigenous land in Amapá

Brazil’s Federal Prosecution Service reported that the preliminary investigations conducted by the Federal Police failed to prove the presence of invaders in the territory belonging to the Wajãpi indigenous people, in the northern state of Amapá. In a press conference held Monday (Jul 29), the country’s Prosecutor-General Rodolfo Lopes said further inquiries may still be launched.

The Federal Police are expected to finish its report on the alleged invasion of gold miners in the indigenous territory and the killing of village chief Emyra Wajãpi, aged 62.

Some 25 agents from the Federal Police and the Special Operations Battalion of the Military Police in Amapá took part in the investigation Sunday (28). The indigenous leaders told the investigators that 15 invaders spent a night in the Yvytotõ village, some 300 km from capital Macapá “authoritatively” and “wielding firearms.” During the inquiry, the police were led by the indigenous leaders to the places where the invasions were reported to have taken place. They marked the spots on the GPS and took pictures.

No traces

“The Federal Police marked the coordinates, made videos and took photos, and this is going to be included in the definitive report presented by the police,” said the prosecutor. “In these places, there are no signs of gold miners, conflicts, or traces of non-indigenous human presence, footprints, marks left by bonfires, etc. No specific evidence,” the prosecutor-general declared.

According to federal prosecutors, the police authorities said no hypothesis on the murder is being ruled out. “Probes continue. The measures taken are many, it hinges on the analysis of what was found in the place,” Lopes said.

The indigenous people say Emyra Wajãpi was killed on Monday afternoon (22). However, the killing was not witnessed by any of them and only came to their knowledge on Tuesday morning (23).

Autopsy

When asked whether the Prosecution Service will request an examination on the chief’s body, the prosecutor-general said this is a decision for the Federal Police to make. “The examination will be under the responsibility of the relevant authorities, who will determine whether a forensic examination is in order and will contact the indigenous leaders,” he said.

In a note, the Wajãpi showed concern. They say some were leaving the village, in fear of an invasion. “In the local villages some families are afraid of going to the ranches or going hunting. Some groups left their villages to join families in other villages to feel safer,” the text reads.

UN worried

United Nations (UN) Commissioner Michelle Bachalet described the murder of the leader of the Wajãpi in Brazil as “tragic and reprehensible on its own.”

She referred to the death of the indigenous leader “as an unsettling symptom of the increasing problem of invasion in indigenous lands by miners, loggers, and farmers” in Brazil.

Bachalet criticized the Brazilian government’s proposal to make more areas available for mining. In her view, the measure may lead to more instances of violence, intimidation, and deaths in the region. The authorities, she argued, must respond quickly and bring those accountable for the killing of the chief to the court.

“The authorities must react quickly and effectively to investigate this incident and take all those responsible to court, in compliance with the law,” Bachalet said. “The protection of indigenous people and the land where they live has been an important issue all across the world, not just in Brazil.”