The Chamber of Deputies approved this Thursday (5th) the creation of an external commission to follow up on complaints of attacks against the Yanomami population, after reports of disappearances of children and the rape of a teenager.
The request, authored by deputies Erika Kokay (PT-DF) and Joenia Wapichana (Rede-RR), was approved in a symbolic vote. The costs of the commission will be borne by the House.
The document says that the objective is “to monitor, carry out diligence and propose measures in the face of the situation of violence and violations to which children, adolescents and women from the Aracaçá community, Waikás region, in the Yanomami Indigenous Land, in the state of Roraima are being subjected. “
The request also asks for the appointment of the members who will compose the external commission.
In the justification, the deputies talk about the “very serious escalation of violence against the Yanomami people”.
“It is important that this commission looks into and proposes measures and actions towards the creation of a working group to monitor the situation of the Yanomami people”, indicates the request.
The deputies say that the indigenous land is “ravaged by the continued activity of illegal mining involving thousands of miners.”
“We have forwarded documents and accompanied leaders of the Hutukara Associação Yanomami and Seduume Associação Ye’kwana in a meeting with competent authorities and with very few effective results”, the document states.
The petition recalls the Federal Police’s operations against the invasion of gold miners, but states that the “lack of a permanent response from the State to respond to the problem and of a perennial protection and inspection plan for the largest indigenous land in the country” allowed the reorganization of the illegal miners.
“In the face of all this escalation of violence, the Chamber of Deputies has the duty to monitor how government actions are being developed for these peoples”, indicates the text of the justification.
On Wednesday (4), the Chamber approved a diligence and should join the Senate on a trip to Roraima. The parliamentarians’ objective is to talk to indigenous leaders, local authorities and security forces to better understand the conflict.
The trip is scheduled for the 11th and 12th of this month. Agenda and participants are not defined yet.
On April 25 this year, local indigenous leaders denounced that members of illegal mining had kidnapped, raped and murdered a 12-year-old girl.
The accusation was made by the Condisi-YY (District Council for Yanomami and Ye’kwana Indigenous Health), but a statement issued by the federal government states that an investigation carried out by the Federal Public Ministry, Funai and the Special Secretariat for Indigenous Health found no evidence of murder or rape.
Members of the Federal Police, in turn, told the Sheet that the disappearance of indigenous people on Yanomami land has nothing to do with the aggression of miners.
According to interlocutors, police officers who were with people from the community shortly before the indigenous people left the place stated that the departure had taken place voluntarily.
The investigation into the case is ongoing. When the task force of public agencies went to the Araçá community to investigate the death of the 12-year-old girl, they found the place completely empty and some houses burned.
