Bishops decry Congress probe on indigenous advocacy: “biased and undemocratic”

The National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB) has described the report with the findings of a Congressional Committee of Investigation (CPI) on the National Foundation for Indigenous People (FUNAI) and the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA) as “biased, one-sided, and undemocratic”. The committee has recommended the indictment of more than a hundred people linked to indigenous rights advocacy in Brazil.

The Brazilian bishops released a public statement Thursday (June 22) decrying the contents of the report as disregarding “dozens of motions” and for not hearing the Missionary Indigenous Advocacy Council (CIMI), a body affiliated with the CNBB, which had 14 of its members listed for potential indictment.

According to the CNBB's statement, in the past months while the CPI was in operation, rural violence surged—as shown by the “atrocities” in Colniza, Mato Grosso state, where rural workers were slaughtered in April, and Pau D'Arco, Pará state, where police raided a farm killing ten peasants.

In a press conference to unveil the document, CNBB Secretary General Dom Leonardo Steiner criticized the call to indict activists “serving indigenous peoples”, by contrast with people “in conflict” with the communities. “No ranchers have been named. Even the murders of indigenous peoples by big farm gunmen have been left out, which is very strange,” he said.

The CNBB said that the implementation of the recommendations in the report could lead conflicts to escalate. “Legislators should be aware of that as they deliberate on issues that impact the lives of indigenous peoples and other rural populations. Indicting CIMI missionaries is a blatant attempt to intimidate such an important organization for indigenous people, and mislead public opinion about the rights of indigenous peoples,” the note read.

The CPI, which completed its activities on May 30, recommended the investigation of 103 people, including community leaders, anthropologists and civil servants, as well as CIMI missionaries.

Translated by Mayra Borges