Nov. 23, 2010
Threatened Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon
Human Rights Groups Call on Brazilian Public Prosecutor's Office to Suspend Construction of Belo Monte Mega-Dam
By Rebecca Sommer
Special to Huntingtonnews.net
Research by the Society for Threatened Peoples International (STPI) has revealed that the construction of the Belo Monte mega-dam in the heart of the Amazon will usher in massive industrialization that will threaten the indigenous peoples living on the reservations, as well as others who have never had contact with the outside world. The STPI together with numerous international and Brazilian non-governmental organizations, have filed a complaint with the Brazilian Public Prosecutor's Office.
The indigenous peoples in the Xingu region have repeatedly expressed their concern and uncertainty. After receiving conflicting statements from officials regarding the direct and indirect consequences of the Belo Monte mega-dam, and never having been asked for their assent to the dam construction, they are now faced with an even more ominous development.
In many of the indigenous peoples' reservations in the region of the planned dam, geologists conjecture that there are vast deposits of natural resources. According to the environmental impact report for the Belo Monte dam project, prepared by the state energy company Eletrobrás, numerous commodity firms have already applied with the government for authorization to search for natural resources. In the Apyterewa reservation, for example, these include such companies as Companhia Vale do Rio Doce. Authorizations have been sought for 63% of the area of reservations in the upper Xingu region. The indigenous peoples themselves have neither been informed nor have they consented to any future mining for raw materials in their settlement areas.
Since the Brazilian constitution of 1988, which granted a certain amount of protection to indigenous peoples, more than 20 percent of the Amazon rain forest has been granted to indigenous peoples as reservations. This promise of protection is now slated to be sacrificed to greed for natural resources. Brazil's treatment of its indigenous populations, widely praised up to now, will be called into question.
For the indigenous peoples who have not been contacted yet – who have been sighted just 70 km from the dam – this development is particularly devastating, as the areas where they live are not under any protection. In fact, the government wants to confer rights for utilization of the wood.
To view a video about the Indigenous Peoples in voluntary isolation, click: http://www.youtube.com/user/SommerFilms#p/u/13/DOGMpcUXSEI
In light of this alarming development the STPI, together with international and Brazilian non-governmental organizations, have filed a complaint with the Brazilian Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (Ministério Público Federal) in the state of Pará. The complaint calls for the Public Prosecutor's Office to suspend construction of the Belo Monte dam if any irregularities in the approval process are discovered.
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Threatened Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon
Human Rights Groups Call on Brazilian Public Prosecutor's Office to Suspend Construction of Belo Monte Mega-Dam
By Rebecca Sommer
Special to Huntingtonnews.net
Research by the Society for Threatened Peoples International (STPI) has revealed that the construction of the Belo Monte mega-dam in the heart of the Amazon will usher in massive industrialization that will threaten the indigenous peoples living on the reservations, as well as others who have never had contact with the outside world. The STPI together with numerous international and Brazilian non-governmental organizations, have filed a complaint with the Brazilian Public Prosecutor's Office.
The indigenous peoples in the Xingu region have repeatedly expressed their concern and uncertainty. After receiving conflicting statements from officials regarding the direct and indirect consequences of the Belo Monte mega-dam, and never having been asked for their assent to the dam construction, they are now faced with an even more ominous development.
In many of the indigenous peoples' reservations in the region of the planned dam, geologists conjecture that there are vast deposits of natural resources. According to the environmental impact report for the Belo Monte dam project, prepared by the state energy company Eletrobrás, numerous commodity firms have already applied with the government for authorization to search for natural resources. In the Apyterewa reservation, for example, these include such companies as Companhia Vale do Rio Doce. Authorizations have been sought for 63% of the area of reservations in the upper Xingu region. The indigenous peoples themselves have neither been informed nor have they consented to any future mining for raw materials in their settlement areas.
Since the Brazilian constitution of 1988, which granted a certain amount of protection to indigenous peoples, more than 20 percent of the Amazon rain forest has been granted to indigenous peoples as reservations. This promise of protection is now slated to be sacrificed to greed for natural resources. Brazil's treatment of its indigenous populations, widely praised up to now, will be called into question.
For the indigenous peoples who have not been contacted yet – who have been sighted just 70 km from the dam – this development is particularly devastating, as the areas where they live are not under any protection. In fact, the government wants to confer rights for utilization of the wood.
To view a video about the Indigenous Peoples in voluntary isolation, click: http://www.youtube.com/user/SommerFilms#p/u/13/DOGMpcUXSEI
In light of this alarming development the STPI, together with international and Brazilian non-governmental organizations, have filed a complaint with the Brazilian Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (Ministério Público Federal) in the state of Pará. The complaint calls for the Public Prosecutor's Office to suspend construction of the Belo Monte dam if any irregularities in the approval process are discovered.
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