The European Parliament urgently votes this Thursday (7th) on a resolution that asks the Brazilian authorities to carry out an independent and impartial investigation into the murders of journalist Dom Philips and indigenist Bruno Pereira.
“The parliament condemns the increasing violence against environmental defenders and deplores the verbal attacks and intimidating statements by President Bolsonaro,” the resolution states. President Jair Bolsonaro had said that Dom and Bruno were on an unrecommended adventure.
The text also asks Brazilian authorities to take immediate action to prevent human rights violations and to protect environmental defenders.
“Illegal gold mining threatens forests and biodiversity in protected areas, exposing indigenous populations to contamination and increasing deforestation, especially in the Brazilian Amazon,” the resolution reads.
“[A aprovação da resolução] is a strong sign that the European parliament clearly condemns the increasingly frequent murders of indigenous people and environmental defenders in Brazil and clearly identifies the Bolsonaro government’s responsibility in the increasing violence against indigenous peoples, as well as the increasing rates of deforestation to associated with it”, says German Green Party MEP Anna Cavazzini, who is also vice-president of the delegation on relations with Brazil and one of the resolution’s negotiators.
The European parliament is due to vote in September on a proposal for legislation to ban the import of commodities linked to deforestation, which is expected to affect raw materials exported by Brazil such as beef, wood and soy.
