March 19, 2022

09:03

Malu Dacio – from Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – The legal advice of the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib) made public a technical note regarding the Bill 191/2020 that authorizes mining in Indigenous Lands. With this public statement, the entity expresses its support for the rejection or shelving of the Bill.

The note points out several problems with the proposal, unconstitutionality and “clear violation of the rights of indigenous peoples. On its website, Apib states that the bill is one more step in the ongoing anti-indigenous agenda in Congress. Apib is an indigenous organization representing and defending the rights of indigenous peoples in Brazil.

On the 9th, the urgency request of the bill was approved in the House of Representatives. Now, the bill will be discussed in group work, and will be put on the agenda within 30 days from the date of the vote on the urgency request.

“In the note, it was shown that the PL has no legal support, due to the flagrant violation of the dignity of Indigenous Peoples, by trying to accommodate unconstitutionally and anachronistically, the mining activity in Indigenous Lands, in the country, putting at risk the lives of indigenous peoples, including isolated indigenous peoples,” says the entity in the publication.

About the note

The note considers that such proposal is evidenced as one of the main threats in the Legislative Branch to the rights recognized to indigenous peoples in the Federal Constitution of 1988. In the social context, the note states that the current Brazilian development project centers its economic activities on the exploitation of natural resources, under the argument of respecting the sustainability of such enterprises.

The entity defends that one of the central projects of the current federal government is the opening of Indigenous Lands for mining exploration. “PL 191/2020 is one of the main instruments that reflect this impetus, having been presented as a legislative priority of the federal government since its proposition. Even though it is still in the legislative process for eventual regulation, it is already possible to feel the damaging impacts on indigenous territories,” it argues.

The text also highlights the worsening in cases of river contamination, devastation of forests, entire communities that, when not destroyed or carried away by the toxic sludge from the leakage of mining waste dams, are left without access to water.

The document also recalls the increase in cases of devastation in recent years and records of mining activities. The note also states that researchers indicate that the approval of PL 191/2020 could cause the loss of 160 thousand km² of forest in the Amazon, which is equivalent to an area larger than the surface of England.

Unconstitutionality

The note shows the unconstitutionality of PL 191/20, due to a formal defect, which should have been proposed by means of a Complementary Law, as determined by the Constitution. The text, as it stands, aims to de-characterize the procedure of prior consultation with indigenous peoples,” it argues.

Finally, they point out that the intention of PL no. 191 is to create a false impression that the indigenous people are being consulted, while, if the indigenous people decide not to approve projects on their lands, such a position would not have the power to stop economic exploitation in their territories.

Check out the note in full: