Indigenous infanticide persists in the country under the allegation of cultural preservation

There are many reports of the murder of indigenous babies or children throughout history in documentaries, videos and statements by witnesses of the rescue of children on the verge of death. Cases of infanticide in villages come from a cultural tradition and occur in some very isolated tribes when indigenous people are born with disabilities, twins or children of single mothers.

Of the 305 ethnic groups present in Brazilian territory, at least 18 were identified as practicing indigenous infanticide by 2020, according to information from the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai). Because they occur in isolated places and because of the complexity of the subject, there is no consolidated data on occurrences.

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There are NGOs that work in parts of these villages trying to prevent children from being sentenced to death, but sometimes they are prevented by the Judiciary, which opens inquiries to investigate reports of kidnapping and clandestine adoption of indigenous children. In Mato Grosso, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) launched an investigation on the 18th after receiving a complaint from the Pimentel Barbosa and Etenhiritipá villages, in Água Boa (MT). According to the complaint, children had been removed from the villages to be attended to for alleged mistreatment they were suffering in the villages and “would not have been returned to their parents, being given up for adoption to couples determined by the missionaries of the evangelizing NGOs”.

The children, who are often removed from the villages even by relatives, tend to have some physical or mental disability, which is seen by certain indigenous communities as a problem or a “curse”. From muscle atrophy to cleft lip, newborns “may be subject to being abandoned in the forest, being burned or even buried alive”, says one of the volunteers from the NGO Atini-Voz Pela Vida, which aims to prevent infanticide in communities indigenous.

Founded in 2006, Atini is a non-profit organization based in Brasília and internationally recognized for its pioneering work in defending the rights of indigenous children. It is formed by indigenous leaders, anthropologists, linguists, lawyers, religious, politicians and educators and “nurtures deep respect for indigenous cultures”, as the entity’s website informs.

“Indigenous infanticide is still a taboo, despite more than ten years of confrontation. Just as in indigenous society nobody talks about it, in our society [também] nobody speaks, nobody confronts, nobody takes a stand. In fact, the most comfortable position has been one of omission,” said Reginaldo Veloso, one of the NGO’s leaders, in an Atini institutional video released in 2019.

In an interview with People’s Gazette, one of the Atini missionaries, who preferred not to be identified, says that the organization does not act to “exterminate indigenous culture”, as critics of the entity point out. On the contrary, he explains that the NGO seeks to “raise awareness about human rights and children’s rights, in addition to providing conditions for children who are sentenced to death”.

“We must provide support for them to change this culture, and there is treatment for many children who are doomed to death. We just need to give them opportunities. A baby with cleft lip, for example, which is seen as a curse, can undergo a 40-hour surgery. minutes and then return to the village without being sentenced. Why do anthropologists understand that the child must die if he has the right to medical assistance?”, asks the missionary.

The film “Smoke Screen”, released by Brasil Paralelo last year, addressed the problem that indigenous parents experience when they have children who are not accepted by their tribes. In the production, available on Youtube, indigenous survivors report on the practice of homicide in the villages.

Report of a Yanomami who survived an infanticide attempt

At the time she was secretary of indigenous health in the government of former President Jair Bolsonaro, indigenous deputy Silvia Waiãpi accompanied the report of the indigenous Renato Sanoma Yanomami, who tries to prevent the murder of children due to disabilities in his village. Silvia says that she was able to help a child who had infantile paralysis by taking her to the city for treatment.

“I went into the village to rescue children who would be sacrificed. At the time, Renato asked me for help raising children that he was rescuing. Some the family didn’t want and threw away”, said the deputy.

In a video released in 2019, Renato Sanoma reports on his quest to save the lives of discarded children in the villages. “I have saved many children because of what I have been saying. I keep talking and many give up throwing the children away, but it still happens. A woman had a baby and didn’t want it anymore, and that child is no longer killed because we keep announcing it. The child has just been adopted because of the announcement I’ve been making,” he said.

A People’s Gazette, Silvia Waiãpi criticized the position of anthropologists on non-interference in indigenous customs. “What is most serious is the advice given by anthropologists that we should not intervene in the culture and let it die. How am I going to let a child die because of a culture that thinks there is no treatment?”, She questioned.

Bill seeks to criminalize indigenous infanticide

In 2015, the Chamber of Deputies approved Bill 1057/07, authored by former PT deputy Henrique Afonso (AC), which provides for a series of measures to combat infanticide and other attacks against life in indigenous communities. To enter into force, the bill still needs to be approved by the Senate.

The proposal became known as “Lei Muwaji”, in honor of a mother from the Suruwaha tribe who rebelled against the tradition of her tribe and saved the life of her daughter, who would be killed because she was born with a disability. The bill establishes penalties for public agents who fail to act to prevent indigenous children from being killed because they have a disability, are the result of multiple pregnancies, have birthmarks, are rejected by one of the parents, among other situations.

The penalty for omission is from one to six months in jail. If the parents or the tribe “persist in the harmful traditional practice”, the child must be removed from the family and transferred to a temporary shelter. If this is not possible, the newborn is sent for adoption, according to the text of the project.

“Obviously the traditions [dos povos indígenas] are recognized, but are not legitimated to justify human rights violations. Harmful traditional practices, which are present in various social and ethnic groups in our country, cannot be ignored and deserve to be confronted, however delicate it may be”, explains the author of the proposal.

In the Senate, the bill is being processed as PLC 119/15 and was shelved in December last year at the end of the legislature. In 2019, after four years of processing, the matter received the endorsement of the Human Rights Commission (CDH), with the opinion of Senator Telmário Mota (Pros-RR). Since October of that year, the text has been awaiting the report by Senator Marcos Rogério (DEM-RO) at the Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ). There is expectation among some advisors that Senator Damares Alves (Republicanos-DF), who headed the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights (MMFDH) in the Bolsonaro administration, will be the rapporteur for the project in the new legislature, which began on February 1st.

Some organizations of anthropologists and the indigenous movement see the bill as a stigmatization of native peoples by associating them with rare practices that, according to them, would also occur in other societies. At a Senate hearing in 2016, anthropologists criticized the proposal saying that, between the lines, the text hides an “effort for the evangelization” of the tribes.

At the same 2016 hearing, Kakatsa Kamayura came forward as an infanticide survivor. He was saved from death by an unknown woman after his mother tried to sacrifice him because his father didn’t recognize him as a son.

“When I was in my mother’s womb, my father did not recognize me as a legitimate son. Under pressure from my father, when I was born, she dug a hole and wanted to bury me. But a lady came and took me to her house. This lady caught me, and I survived. I have a brother who was a victim of infanticide too. He is the son of a single mother. When he was born, he was buried alive. After two hours in the hole, my mother took him out,” he said. Kamayura in the audience.

Cultural issue x right to life

The right to life and the defense of indigenous culture come into conflict in the judicial field. Anthropologists criticize interference with indigenous populations as something disrespectful, while defenders of life and religious seek to guarantee the fundamental right to life.

The defense of life has protective laws and it is a universal right, present in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and a fundamental right, provided for in the Federal Constitution. Therefore, such prerogative must always be interpreted in order to subsidize the other rights.

On the other hand, the Constitution establishes in its article 215 a broad guarantee to culture and determines that it is up to the State to protect popular cultural manifestations, including indigenous ones. Still in relation to the Indians there is, in Article 231, the recognition of their social organization, their customs, their languages, beliefs and traditions. Law 6001/1973, which instituted the Statute of the Indian, also deals with the preservation of indigenous culture.

The discussion around infanticide, however, reignited conflicts and brought doubts about what should prevail: the individual right to life or the community right of indigenous people to maintain all their customs. The discussion took on a greater proportion after Damares Alves presented, in 2019 when she was still a minister, a plan to combat indigenous infanticide. The initiative was heavily criticized by parliamentarians from the Parliamentary Front in Defense of Indigenous Peoples, who classified the plan as prejudiced.

The former minister said at the time that it was important to seek dialogue with indigenous peoples and create awareness campaigns. “To seek to talk with people, without cultural interference. I believe this is a problem that the people themselves can overcome. Many peoples in Brazil committed infanticide and have already overcome this practice. It is possible that in conversations and campaigns we will be able to overcome this practice in a few years in Brazil”.

Damares began to confront indigenous infanticide before becoming a minister. She is one of the founders of the NGO Atini; the idea of ​​creating the entity came after the former minister heard reports and met children who were saved from death sentences in villages. Damares’ adopted daughter, Kajutiti Lulu Kamayurá, was given to the NGO by her family. Because no one wanted to adopt her, Damares chose to take the girl in.

The adoption gained prominence when Damares took over as minister in 2019. At the time, critics of the minister and part of the press pointed to the adoption as a “kidnapping”. During the inauguration, when commenting on the case, she said: “I am an adoptive mother. It is an extraordinary adoption. The press says that I kidnapped her, but I did not kidnap her. I took in children at risk”, said the former minister.