Brazil: 5 years on, Amazon Guardian’s killers still escape justice

Five years after the killing of Paulo Paulino Guajajara, an Indigenous Amazon Guardian who was gunned down by illegal loggers, his family still waits for justice. 

Paulo’s death was widely covered by the world’s press, but despite the global outcry, the killers have never been brought to trial. Two men, Antônio Wesly Nascimento Coelho and Raimundo Nonato Ferreira de Sousa, have been charged, but not tried.

Paulo Paulino, known also as Kwahu Tenetehar, was shot in the neck and died in the forest after an ambush by loggers. His colleague, Tainaky Tenetehar, was shot in the back and arm but escaped.

The Amazon Guardians have patrolled their territory in the eastern Amazon, which has been heavily invaded by loggers, for more than 15 years. Uncontacted members of the Awá people also live in the territory.

At least six Guardians have been killed, and many of their relatives shot dead, as loggers and land grabbers target their territory, known as Arariboia – one of the last areas of forest left in that region, in the eastern state of Maranhão.

Survival has supported the Guardians for many years. Survival’s Brazil researcher Sarah Shenker, who accompanied the Guardians on one of their operations, said five years ago: “Kwahu was completely dedicated to defending his forest and his uncontacted relatives, despite the risks. He was also one of the most humble people I’ve ever met.

“He knew that he might pay with his life, but he saw no alternative, as the authorities did nothing to protect the forest and uphold the rule of law.”

His friends and colleagues paid tribute to him in an emotional video.

After years of pressure from the Guardians, and from contacted Awá people, Brazilian authorities have finally begun construction of a guard post in the Arariboia territory, to help them monitor, and prevent incursions by, illegal loggers.

In a statement to mark the anniversary of Paulo’s murder, the Guardians said: “We feel the distress of the Guajajara people over the continued impunity of our people’s murderers, and especially of the warrior Paulo Paulino, who we will always remember, above all for his struggle to protect our ancestral territory.

“The Guardians are preparing an act of remembrance to mark five years of impunity, and we join  Survival for this moment of denunciation, and to demand that those responsible for the murder of Paulo Paulino are duly tried and sentenced.”

Fiona Watson, Survival International’s Director of Research and Advocacy, said today: “Five years ago Paulo Paulino paid with his life to protect his beloved rainforest home, and the Indigenous people who live in it. 

“He was one of countless Indigenous people in Brazil killed every year for defending their land – and the killers persist because they know it’s unlikely they will ever face justice. Brazil’s government pays lip service to the need to protect what is left of the Amazon – but the people defending it on the ground are sacrificing their lives as the rainforest is destroyed around them. How much longer will this appalling injustice continue?”