June 22, 2022

16:06

Bruno Pacheco – Amazon Agency

MANAUS – In Manaus, servers of the National Indian Foundation (Funai) working in the Amazon join, on Thursday, 23, the body’s national act that calls for improvements in working conditions and justice in the case of British journalist Dominic Mark Phillips, better known as “Dom Phillips”, and indigenist Bruno da Cunha Araújo Pereira, murdered on June 5 this year, in the Javari Valley region, in the countryside of the state, after being threatened in the field.

On Tuesday, 21, the Union of Federal Public Servants in the Amazon (Sindsep-AM) reported that a strike of 24 hours was approved by 19 votes in favor, three votes against and two abstentions. The mobilization takes place from 9am this Thursday, 23, in front of the headquarters of the body in Manaus, at Avenida Maceió, Adrianópolis neighborhood, in the Center-South zone. To AMAZON AGENCY, Funai officials said that the essential services of the institution will not be affected and face-to-face services occur normally.

In addition, the act calls for the resignation of the current president of Funai, the delegate of the Federal Police (PF) Marcelo Xavier, who has been in charge of the body since July 2019, under the support of the ruralist caucus in the National Congress, but who has been involved in controversies with the indigenous people of the country. The demonstration also seeks the wage recomposition of 19.99% to the federal civil service.

The mobilization is expected to take place in all Funai units in the 26 capitals of Brazil and the Federal District, with a vigil in the units to demand accountability for crimes against the voices that fight for the Amazon and the rights of indigenous peoples. The group also requests an audience with the Ministry of Justice and Public Security.

Funai on strike

The national strike was decided on Friday, 17, in an Extraordinary National Plenary Meeting promoted by the Confederation of Workers in the Federal Public Service (Condsf/Fenadsef), the National Association of Funai Servers (Ansef) and the Associated Indigenists (INA). In a note, the servers call for no more drops of blood to be shed, referring to the attacks against journalist Dom Phillips and indigenist Bruno Pereira.

“We fight for the investigations to reach the broad chain of organized crime installed in Javari Valley, so that we never again have to go through a similar situation, which requires the immediate protection of our indigenous colleagues, the Indigenous Peoples and their leaders, organizations and territories”, the workers highlight in the letter.

“For this, we need to put an end to the current anti-indigenous management installed in the National Indian Foundation and gather our forces to structure minimum working and security conditions for the execution of our institutional mission to promote and protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples”, continue the employees in the document.

Dom and Bruno

The journalist Dom Phillips and the indigenist Bruno Pereira were last seen on June 5th of this year when they were on their way from the São Rafael Community to the municipality of Atalaia do Norte, in the Vale do Javari region, in Amazonas. It was only on June 15 that the human remains of the victims were located by the search teams of the Civil Police (PC-AM) and firefighters.

On June 18, a medical examination conducted by Federal Police (PF) experts indicated that the murder of british journalist Dom Phillips was caused by “thoracoabdominal trauma”, caused by the shooting of a firearm with “typical hunting ammunition, with multiple bullets”, which caused injuries mainly in the abdominal and thoracic regions.

Bruno Pereira, on the other hand, died as a result of “thoracoabdominal and cranial trauma”, also caused by the shooting of a typical hunting rifle and several projectiles, which caused injuries in the thorax/abdomen, where he was shot twice, and in the face/cranium, where he was shot once.

Arrested

Three suspects – Amarildo da Costa Oliveira, known as “Pelado”; Oseney da Costa Oliveira, known as “Dos Santos”, Amarildo’s brother, and Jeferson da Silva Lima, known as “Peladinho” or “Pelado da Dinha” – were arrested for the deaths of the indigenous expert and the journalist, and five other people were identified as being involved in hiding the bodies.

See, in its entirety, the strike manifesto of the Funai staff: