Brazil: Violence Against Indigenous People Increased in 2019

The Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) revealed that the violence against Indigenous people increased to over 150 percent last year compared to 2018, encouraged by President Jair Bolsonaro's policies.

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The annual report highlights that in 2019 alone, there were 256 reports of invasions of Indigenous lands in Brazil, as well as several denounces of abuse of power, death threats, discrimination, assassination attempts, and more.

The report highlights that "the violence against indigenous peoples is based on a government project that aims to make their land and the common assets contained therein available to agribusiness, mining, and logging entrepreneurs, among others."

Furthermore, the investigation reveals that 829 out of the 1.298 Indigenous lands in Brazil are "pending something from the government to finalize its demarcation process. The majority of them, 536 lands, have had no response from the government.

Moreover, CIMI denounces that President Jair Bolsonaro has kept his commitment to not to demarcate an inch of indigenous land as, in the first half of 2019 alone, his administration returned 27 demarcation processes to be reviewed.

"This action certainly implies more significant obstacles, if not the impediment, to the fulfillment of the constitutional rights of the indigenous people who claim their ancestral territories," the report explains.

Violence remained remarkably high last year since 113 Indigenous were killed in Brazil. Also, the states of Mato Grosso do Sul and Roraima report the most deaths. This, in addition to what the organization calls "violence due to Government omission," includes reports of suicide and childhood mortality.