Urgent petition launched to support Indians
August 19, 2008
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Indigenous peoples and their supporters in Brazil have launched an urgent petition calling on Brazil’s Supreme Court to uphold the ratification of Raposa-Serra do Sol, an Indigenous territory in the Amazon region, northern Brazil.
The petition will be delivered to Brazil’s Supreme Court, which is due to rule on maintaining or reducing the size of the reserve on 27th August. A decision reducing the size of the territory would set a catastrophic precedent, endangering Indigenous land rights all over Brazil.
Raposa-Serra do Sol is home to over 18,000 Indians and was signed into law in 2005. However, a group of farmers had invaded the land in the 1990s and refused to leave, leading a vicious campaign against the Indians. Since April 2008, ten Indians have been shot by gunmen employed by the farmers and a homemade bomb was thrown into one community.
Sign the petition (in Portuguese and English)
