Brazil, one step away from 100,000 deaths from covid-19 2:12
(CNN) - Brazil's Supreme Court on Wednesday awarded a partial victory to the country's besieged indigenous communities, fighting against a new insidious enemy: Covid-19.
The court upheld an earlier court decision that required the federal government to implement security measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, which has spread to many remote communities with deadly effect.
"It was a great victory," said Dinaman Tuxa, executive coordinator of APIB, an indigenous group that filed the lawsuit against the government along with six political parties, calling the ruling a historic reparation for injustices against indigenous people even before the pandemic.
"If it were not for [the court], this lawsuit would still be in the drawers of the Executive and the Legislature," he said.
But the main demand of indigenous groups was rejected: a deadline for all outsiders, including miners, developers and the military, to leave their lands.
Communities most affected
The indigenous communities of Brazil have been hit by covid-19. As of early August, more than 22,000 indigenous people had been diagnosed with coronavirus and at least 631 had died from it, according to APIB. But due to limited testing, the actual cost could be higher.
In a tragic coincidence, a prominent indigenous leader, Chief Aritana Yawalapiti of the Upper Xingu Territory, died of the virus on the day of the ruling, according to his nephew Kaiulu Yawalapiti. "My heart is in pieces, bleeding," Yawalapiti told CNN.
The 71-year-old boss was admitted to the ICU on July 22 after suffering severe respiratory problems. His son, Tapi Yawalapiti, told CNN that same day that Upper Xingu lacked medical supplies, test kits and medical assistance to combat the covid-19 pandemic.
“Covid-19 spreads very fast, the whole community is sick, children, young people, the elderly. We are abandoned by the Brazilian government, they are not helping us enough and it seems that they want to tithe us, ”he said.
APIB's Dinaman Tuxa indicated that Yawalapiti's death meant much more than the loss of a singular life. "The elderly are the guardians of knowledge, languages, traditions, festivals, rituals," he said. "We are losing much more than people, we are losing our culture, our nation."
Some 800,000 indigenous people live in towns across Brazil. As the pandemic spreads, many of the communities have echoed Yawalapiti's complaint about government negligence.
As the coronavirus spread across Brazil this year, the country's Ministry of Health and local governments installed indigenous wards in hospitals throughout the Amazon. In conjunction with the Ministry of Defense, they also sent medical equipment, supplies and personnel to military hospitals in remote areas such as São Gabriel da Cachoeira, Tabatinga, and Valle Javari.
The yellow shirt of Brazil, symbol of the extreme right 3:12But some key initiatives to protect indigenous Brazilians have been hampered at the highest levels of government.
On July 8, President Jair Bolsonaro vetoed parts of an emergency bill that would have ensured access to drinking water, the free distribution of hygiene products, and the distribution of cleaning and disinfection materials to indigenous communities, citing the cost. He also vetoed a proposal that ensures mandatory emergency funds for health care for indigenous peoples and argued that legislating mandatory spending does not "account for the respective budgetary and financial impact, which would be unconstitutional.
The vetoes fit a broader pattern for the pro-business right-wing leader, who has a historically antagonistic relationship with indigenous Brazilians. Many rights activists have protested the increase in illegal mining and logging on their lands that followed Bolsonaro's rise to power.
The judge who drafted the July 8 ruling that was upheld by the Supreme Court on Wednesday cited Bolsonaro's comments in his decision. "It is also worth noting that there has been great resistance from the government to the realization of indigenous peoples' rights," wrote Judge Luis Roberto Barroso, citing media reports citing Bolsonaro's support for development, including " indigenous reserves that make the Amazon unviable ».
Brazil's indigenous peoples often live in communities that are far from hospitals, in areas that often lack basic infrastructure. Those who move to towns or cities can end up in precarious living conditions with few public services, increasing their vulnerability to health problems.
A study conducted in May and June reported that indigenous peoples are five times more likely to contract the coronavirus compared to the country's white population.
The study by the Federal University of Pelotas found that the vulnerability of indigenous Brazilians remains higher than that of white Brazilians, even within the same socioeconomic level and with the same number of residents in the household.
"Interpretation of these analyzes suggests that indigenous people were at substantially higher risk than other ethnic groups," the study noted.
Overall, Brazil ranks second to the United States in terms of coronavirus cases, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. As of Saturday morning, it had reported nearly 3 million fatalities and nearly 100,000 deaths.
No deadline for outsiders
New security measures ordered by the Supreme Court include the protection of isolated and recently contacted communities, the establishment of a crisis committee involving indigenous groups, and the provision of health care to territories not yet recognized by the government.
In response, Brazil's Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights told CNN that it is already complying with the Supreme Court's decision by creating a working group on July 22 to develop a plan to combat COVID-19. 19.
But the court's reluctance to set a timetable for the outsiders to leave was a setback for the litigants.
Amid the pandemic, health risks for indigenous communities have been compounded by the presence of outsiders, according to their leaders.
APIB sought the expulsion of foreigners from the territories of Yanomami, Karipuna, Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau, Kayapó, Tierras Indígenas Araribóia, Munduruku and Trincheira Bacajá. "Those 7 territories are experiencing life-threatening situations," said Eloy Terena, APIB's legal advisor.
"It is estimated that more than 20,000 illegal miners are currently within the Yanomami land," said Dario Kopenawa, leader of the Hutukara association, which represents the community in the Amazon territory, home to 27,000 people and known for its rich deposits of gold.
That number was questioned by Brazil's vice president, Hamilton Mourao, who is leading the government's campaign to combat illegal mining and logging and who said, via Twitter, that the number was closer to 3,500 illegal miners.
More recently, military missions to distribute medical supplies have alarmed indigenous leaders, who say aid must come through the Ministry of Health, which already has outposts on indigenous lands and where health workers understand indigenous concerns. .
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"We are very upset with the way it was done," Hekurari, president of the Yanomami and Ye'kuana District Council for Indigenous Health (Condisi), told CNN Júnior.
The first military mission to the Yanomani, between June 29 and July 5, involved nearly 50 people on board, including more than 20 medical staff and 18 journalists. "They were only supposed to bring supplies and medicine, not a whole committee with dozens of people," Hekurasi said.
The Defense Ministry said all mission personnel, intended to provide assistance and medical supplies, had been screened for COVID-19.
Two other military missions, to different indigenous communities, were carried out in recent weeks, and the Army reported that it followed protocols by ensuring that all participants were quarantined for 14 days before participating.
On Wednesday, a majority of the Supreme Court said that while the presence of outsiders was illegal, it declined to set a deadline. Instead, he ordered the Brazilian government to establish a "protocol of action" for his departure.
"This shows the strength of agribusiness, miners and politicians," said APIB's Terena. "We were very worried, because if the Supreme Court did not want to confront these people, who would?"
However, the judges recognized the fragility of indigenous lands. His decision highlighted that the indigenous peoples of Brazil, for historical, cultural and social reasons, are more vulnerable to infectious diseases, with a mortality rate higher than the national average.
One of the judges, Luiz Fux, went further and pointed out that it was not an exaggeration to describe the situation as genocide.
"To speak of an ongoing genocide means that indigenous people are dying and the Brazilian state cannot continue to pretend that it is not seeing this tragedy."
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