Op-ed: Draft bill from supreme court justice in Brazil would alter indigenous rights under the constitution

Indigenous rights in Brazil have been at stake for decades: land invasions, increasing violence and congressional bills against territorial rights enshrined by the 1988 Federal Constitution. But now the latest threat has come from the Supreme Court through a draft bill to open up Indigenous territories to mining and other economic activities, an “unprecedented” move in Brazil’s history by an institution that’s entitled to protect the rights of minorities — and the Constitution, Indigenous rights’ advocates said. [ . . . ] Aiming to change article 231 of the Constitution, the draft bill “brings together the main threats to Indigenous peoples,” said Luis Ventura, executive secretary of the Missionary Council for Indigenous Peoples, an advocacy group affiliated with the Catholic Church. The draft bill allows any citizen to access all information related to the demarcation process of Indigenous lands, except confidential personal data. It also sets compensation before “the eviction of the non-Indigenous owners” for the value of the bare land and improvements in case non-Indigenous uninterrupted possession is proven prior to Oct.5, 1988. In case of interrupted possession, non-Indigenous people will be paid partial compensation. If the non-Indigenous settler disagrees with the compensation, the person is guaranteed the right to remain on the land until they agree to compensatory measures. Although the draft bill preserves the Indigenous peoples’ exclusive usufruct of their ancestral lands, it allows the federal government to carry out activities of “relevant public interest” when “there is no technical and locational alternative,” including infrastructure works for public transportation services, energy, telecommunications and the exploitation of strategic mineral resources, among others.
Read the full article here: Mongabay