A Brazilian judge banned evangelical missionaries from contacting the indigenous peoples of the Amazon, who are particularly vulnerable to imported viruses like the Covid-19, the NGO Survival International revealed on Friday. "In a historic decision, judge Fabiano Verli prevented the evangelical missionaries from contacting the isolated indigenous peoples of the Javari valley, which is home to the largest concentration of isolated communities on the planet," said a statement from the organization.
"This is the best possible decision , " said Eliesio Marubo, a lawyer for the indigenous peoples' defense organization Univaja, quoted by Survival International. Judge Verli's decision targets in particular the American evangelical group Ethnos 360 (previously known as the New Tribes Mission), which recently launched a fundraiser to buy a helicopter intended for its evangelization missions for isolated tribes in this region from the Brazilian Amazon. To date, 23 members of indigenous tribes in Brazil have been infected with Covid-19 and three have died.
Read also: Jair Bolsonaro insists on trivializing the coronavirus epidemic
In his decision, also published in the local press, Fabiano Verli said that he had at heart "the particular vulnerability of isolated indigenous peoples. Getting in touch with them puts them at great risk, ” he said. The illnesses brought by European settlers wiped out almost 95% of the Native Americans. The judge authorized the use of force to enforce his decision, the non-compliance of which is punishable by a fine of 1,000 reales (175 euros) per day.
The NGO Survival International condemned the appointment in February of an evangelical anthropologist and pastor, Ricardo Lopes Dias, at the head of the Brazilian department for the protection of isolated tribes.
With a final report of 33,682 cases and 2,141 deaths from Covid-19, the Brazilian health authorities predict a peak of the disease in May.