International Rivers, Brazilian Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), Pará’s Society in Defense of Human Rights (SDDH) and several other national and international organizations condemns and internationally denounces the brutal murder environmental defenders family in the Xingu region, Brazil.
Last Sunday, the bodies of José Gomes (also known as Zé do Lago), his wife Márcia Nunes and their daughter were found in the family property in São Félix do Xingu (Pará State). The family had lived in an Area of Environmental Protection (APA) for 20 years developing recognized projects of forest conservation, mainly working to protect local turtle species.
In a public note, the organizations denounces Xingu as a specially dangerous region for environmental activists to live in. The city of São Félix of Xingu is known for its serious land conflicts linked to land grabbing, deforestation, invasion of indigenous lands and preserved areas, as well as a recent increase of illegal mining. This land conflicts had resulted in murders, slaughters and slave labour.
The entities also have protocol two legal representation seeking urgent resolution in the judicial sphere. On Monday, the first representation was sent to the Secretariat of Public Safety in Pará, and the second one was sent to the Attorney General Office this Thursday.
Concern of lack of resolution for land conflicts killings
What deeply concerns social movements and human rights entities are the limitation of public security organs to clarify the causes and attribute responsibility to the many murderers in Pará. According with CPT, in the last four decades, 62 land workers and local leaders where murdered in São Félix of Xingu. None of the cases were judged, and, with less than 5% of land-conflict killings in Pará going to court, the entities fear that this recent crime will join the long list of unpunished crimes.
The organizations hope for a quick solution, with a criminal investigation leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. The hope is that key witnesses will be willing to cooperate with the authorities to help to solve these violent crimes.
Read the full note (in Brazilian Portuguese): https://www.cptnacional.org.br/publicacoes-2/destaque/5902-nota-publica-mais-um-massacre-no-campo-nao-pode-ficar-impune
Read the full note (in English): https://www.internationalrivers.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/86/2022/01/Public-Statement_Massacre_Sao-Feliz-do-Xingu_Rev18jan2022.docx.pdf
Read the news published in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/jan/13/brazilian-turtle-breeders-shot-dead-along-with-teenage-daughter
The follow international and national entities signed the public note:
1. Prelazia do Alto Xingu-Tucumã
2. Comissão de Direitos Humanos da OAB/PA
3. Movimento Xingu Vivo para Sempre
4. Comitê Dorothy
5. Instituto José Claudio e Maria.
6. Movimento de Mulheres Trabalhadoras de Altamira Campo e Cidade
7. Comissão Justiça e Paz da Arquidiocese de Santarém.
8. Coletivo de Mulheres Negras Maria Maria
9. Comitê em Defesa das Crianças Altamirenses
10. Conselho Ribeirinho
11. GDA- Grupo de Defesa da Amazônia
12. Associação de Mulheres de Altamira e Região
13. SINTEPP. Regional Transamazônica e Xingu
14. Centro de Formação do Negro e Negra da Transamazônica e Xingu
15. Núcleos guardiões do Médio Xingu.
16. Fórum Mudanças Climáticas e Justiça Socioambiental- FMCJS;
17. Instituto Madeira Vivo-IMV;
18. Coletivo Indígena Mura de Porto Velho-COINMU;
19. Comitê Binacional de Defesa da Vida Amazônica na bacia do rio Madeira-COMVIDA;
20. Associação das Comunidades Montanha e Mangabal
21. Projeto Saúde e Alegria – Caetano Scannavino
22. International Rivers
23. Coalizão para a Proteção Permanente de Rios do Brasil
24. Instituto Paulo Fonteles de Direitos Humanos
25. Centro de Estudos e Defesa do Negro do Pará – CEDENPA
26. Movimento Nacional de Direitos Humanos – MNDH
27. Movimento de Mulheres do Campo e da Cidade – MMCC
28. International Accountability Project
29. Instituto Maíra
30. Associação Indígena do Povo Arara da Cachoeira Seca – KOWIT
31. Associação de Mulheres do Areia II
32. Marcha Mundial por Justiça Climática
33. Marcha Mundial do Clima
34. Instituto Transformance: Cultura& Educação
35. Rede Brasileira de Arteducadores
36. Universidade Comunitária dos Rios
37. Projeto Rios de Encontro
38. Ecoa – Ecologia a Ação
39. Coletivo Tela Firme
40. Sindicato dos Trabalhadores Rurais Agricultores e Agricultoras Familiares de Santarém
41. GT Infra – Infraestrutura e Justiça Ambiental
42. Movimento Tapajós Vivo
43. ECOE Brasil
44. Sindicato dos Trabalhadores e das Trabalhadoras em Educação Pública do Pará – SINTEPP – SUBSEDE ALTAMIRA
45. Coordenação Nacional de Lutas – CONLUTAS
46. Articulação pela Convivência com Amazonia – ARCA
47. Rede Nacional de Advogados e Advogadas Populares – RENAP
48. Rede Eclesial Pan Amazônica- REPAM Brasil
49. Universidade Federal do Sul e Sudeste do Pará – Instituto de Estudo do Xingu
50. Diocese de Xingu – Altamira
51. Comitê REPAM Xingu
52. Greenpeace
53. FAOR – Fórum da Amazônia Oriental
54. Amazon Watch
55. Conselho Indigenista Missionário Regional Norte 2 (Pará e Amapá)
56. CSP Conlutas
57. Instituto Idade Mídia Comunicação para a Cidadania