Government confirms that country violated quilombola rights to build base in MA

The attorney general of the Union, Jorge Messias, confirmed this Thursday (27) that the country violated the rights of 152 quilombola communities in 1980 for the construction of the Alcântara Launch Center (CLA), in Maranhão.

The recognition of the violation of the rights to property and legal protection of the communities occurred during a public hearing at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), in Santiago, Chile, where Brazil is being judged for the acts.

According to the head of the Attorney General’s Office (AGU), the violation of the right to property occurred due to the lack of “titles to the territory traditionally occupied by the communities until now”. Messias also says that there was a violation of judicial protection “due to the procedural delay and the inefficiency of the judicial and administrative instances to allow the quilombola communities of Alcântara to exercise the right to collective ownership of the lands they occupy”.

“This whole reality reveals that Brazil has not been able to provide its communities with quick and effective internal resources. […] The Brazilian State publicly expresses its apology to the remaining Quilombo communities of Alcântara”, says the official government statement (see in full).

The recognition of the violation of rights also took place, according to the AGU, to enable the continuity of the Brazilian Space Program (PEB), through the development of the CLA.

Messias also informed that the government will take some measures to correct the case, such as the creation of an inter-ministerial work group to seek solutions for the territorial titling of the remaining quilombo communities, which should complete the work within a year. After the end of these activities, the progressive titling of the lands belonging to the Union will be carried out within two years after the publication of the territorial recognition ordinance.