UN urges stricter investigations into murder of indigenous leader

UN Women Brazil has called for strict and urgent investigations into the murder of indigenous leader Marinalva Manoel, of the Kaiowá people. She was found dead on Saturday morning (Nov. 1st) by the roadside of a highway in Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul, with 35 stab wounds in her chest, neck, face, and left hand.

Marinalva was a member of the Great Guarani-Kaiowá Aty Guassu. On October 15, she met justices of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) along with other indigenous leaders in Brasília. They expressed discontent at a decision to overturn the demarcation of the Guyraroká Indigenous Territory and came out against stances that they regarded as a step back in indigenous land demarcation processes. They also reported an increase in farmer violence against indigenous people.

In September, a panel of the Supreme Court overturned the demarcation of the Guyraroká Indigenous Territory claiming that the indigenous community was not occupying it when the Constitution was promulgated (1988), one of the requirements for a piece of land to be legally considered an Indigenous Territory. The decision is still pending Plenary approval at the Supreme Court.

The decision was challenged by Prosecutor-General Rodrigo Janot with a type of appeal called “motion to clarify”. According to him, the Supreme Court failed to acknowledge that the indigenous people had been forced out of their land, but continued to live in the surroundings, as reported by the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (FUNAI). “In cases of forced eviction of indigenous people from lands they traditionally used to live in, this should be taken into account for a fairer interpretation of whether they were occupying the land before the 1988 Constitution,” Janot maintained.

On Thursday (6), UN Women Brazil released a statement expressing “deep regret at the brutal and cruel” murder of Marinalva, aged 27. The note went on to point out that Marinalva was “a dogged young woman who bravely stood up for indigenous rights,” and said that her murder had “clear elements of femicide – murdering of women based on gender bias.”

Translated by Mayra Borges