UN: Arara People denounce invasion and deforestation on their territory
The denouncement was made at the Human Rights Council and it calls for the protection of indigenous people
Lançamento do relatório “Vidas em territórios sob pressão: povos Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau, Paiter Suruí e Arara”. O evento conta com a presença de indígenas e indigenistas que relatam ameaças e estratégias de resistência e proteção desenvolvidas pelas lideranças dos povos Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau, Paiter Suruí e Arara da TI Cachoeira Seca nos últimos anos, principalmente entre 2020-2022. Foto Paulo Pinto/Agência Brasil
On Thursday (28), during the 54th session of the UN Human Rights Council, Conectas, Instituto Maíra and the Indigenous Association of the Arara People of Cachoeira Seca – KOWIT – denounced violations of indigenous rights in Brazil, particularly the situation facing the people of the Cachoeira Seca Indigenous Territory.
At the Council, Tymbektodem Arara, president of the Kowit Association in Cachoeira Seca Indigenous Territory, called for the indigenous people´s land and lives to be respected. In his speech, he said that demarcation of the Arara People´s territory took place in 2016, thirty years after their first contact with non-indigenous people.
“Nowadays, we are fighting to remove over 2 thousand invaders, the consequence of the installation of the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant. These impacts mean our territory is among those that most suffer from deforestation in Brazil”, the president said. The organisations requested the effort of the international community in the deoccupation of the Cachoeira Seca Indigenous Territory.
Last week, the organisations launched a report “Lives in territories under pressure: the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau, Paiter Suruí and Arara peoples”. The document outlines the challenges, resistance and protection strategies of the indigenous peoples.
