Damares’ defense contests action that asks for R$5 million for Marajó’s complaints

The defense of Senator Damares Alves (Republicanos-DF), former Minister of Human Rights in the Bolsonaro government, this week sent a challenge to the Federal Public Ministry of Pará (MPF-PA) within the scope of the case filed against her for allegations of sexual crimes on Marajó Island.

In September last year, the Federal Court of Pará filed a lawsuit against the senator asking for compensation of R$5 million for social and moral damages to the population of the Arquipelágo do Marajó, in Pará. In the action, the prosecutors also cited the Union, who should pay half of the compensation amount.

The MPF-PA alleged that Damares did not present evidence of the alleged crimes mentioned. According to the Ministry of Human Rights, between 2016 and 2022, 5,440 reports were registered via Dial 100 (the ministry’s reporting channel) of sexual exploitation of minors in the state of Pará.

In the defense document, which the People’s Gazette had access, the senator’s defense provides a historical review of complaints made about serious human rights situations in the region, including the mention of at least four parliamentary commissions of inquiry carried out at the federal and state level and which reported serious crimes against children, teenagers and women from the archipelago.

“The objective of the statements has always been to draw attention to the serious violations of human rights that occur in the Marajó archipelago-PA. It is important to highlight that these violations are well documented and were also recognized in detail in the initial petition”, reinforces the defense in the 109-page document.

In a report, published in 2022, the People’s Gazette showed that cases of sexual exploitation and pedophilia have been investigated for decades in the region and were the subject of an investigation initiated at the request of the Human Rights and Minorities Commission (CDHM) of the Chamber of Deputies, in 2006.

Allegations of sexual exploitation in the archipelago resurfaced in February this year, following the repercussion of a song by singer Aymeê titled “Evangelho de Fariseus”.

According to the parliamentarian’s defense, all complaints were forwarded to the MPF, which, however, did not present to the other bodies what the developments were or whether there were indictments of the people identified as committing the illicit acts.

“It could be a case of omission by members of the Public Ministry who are now demanding actions from the senator that they would have the legal competence to carry out, but never did, without explaining the reason”, says the defense.

The text also contains references to publications that deal with the trafficking of children and women from Marajó to Suriname and Guyana. It also cites recent cases of disappearances of children without intervention from the Public Prosecutor’s Office, such as the case of the girl Elisa, who has been missing since September last year.

During a speech in the Senate, Damares said that since the time she revealed cases of pedophilia in Marajó, “they did everything to silence those who reported it, instead of investigating the allegations.”

“I was silenced in 2023. I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t say anything. Sometimes, I took the stand to demand investigations into the disappearance of the girl Elisa, who to this day no one knows where she is, a little girl. And now, This weekend, Rede Record brought a report about her. I was silenced. And I was one of the last voices of the children of Marajó”, reinforced Damares.

Remember the case

The action, contested by the senator’s defense, refers to a video, which circulated on the internet in October last year, where the former minister spoke about alleged crimes in the region – such as children from Marajó being trafficked abroad and being subjected body mutilation and diets that facilitate sexual abuse. The MPF claims that Damares did not present evidence of the alleged crimes mentioned.

According to the MPF, Damares also said that “the number of rapes of newborns has exploded” and that in the ministry “there are images of eight-day-old children being raped”. “We discovered that a video of child rape costs between R$50,000 and R$100,000. There is organized crime involved in this, there is blood, there is death, there is sacrifice”, says Damares during a service.