Yanomamis: PT accuses Bolsonaro and Damares of genocide – 01/22/2023 – Daily life

PT deputies triggered this Sunday (22) the MPF (Federal Public Ministry) with a criminal representation against former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and former Minister of Women, Family and Human Rights, Damares Alves, from what they see as genocide against the Yanomami peoples.

The former president reacted on social media and called the accusations a “farce from the left”. In a post on Twitter, Damares also denied the previous government’s inaction and stated that the problem of malnutrition among indigenous children is a “historical dilemma”. “There was no omission,” he wrote.

The government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) declared a public health emergency in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory. On a trip to the region on Saturday, the PT member announced, in Boa Vista, aid to the inhabitants of the region and the fight against illegal mining.

A region with 30,000 inhabitants in Roraima, the Yanomami Indigenous Land currently has children and elderly people in a serious state of health, with severe malnutrition, malaria and respiratory infections.

The critical scenario in the indigenous land motivated the decision by the Ministry of Health to declare a state of emergency to combat the lack of health care in the region. The decision, already in effect, was published in an extra edition of the Official Gazette this Friday (20).

On the trip, Lula said he had seen photos during the week that shook him and that the situation he found was one of abandonment. “If someone told me that here in Roraima people were being treated in an inhumane way, as I saw the Yanomami people being treated here, I would not believe it,” said the president.

This Sunday, the PT also used the term “genocide” to refer to the situation of the Yanomami. “More than a humanitarian crisis, what I saw in Roraima was a genocide. A premeditated crime against the Yanomami, committed by a government insensitive to the suffering of the Brazilian people”, stated Lula in his Twitter account.

The representation is signed by the current leader of the PT in the Chamber, Reginaldo Lopes (MG), by the future leader of the bench, Zeca Dirceu (PR), and by the deputies Alencar Santana (SP) and Maria do Rosário (RS). The request for investigation was filed at the Regional Attorney’s Office in the Federal District.

“The Yanomami people have been suffering from very serious violations of their human rights, guaranteed in the Federal Constitution, and in the last four years they have lived in a situation of complete abandonment by the governmental apparatuses that have the legal duty to protect them”, says the text.

The representation calls for the establishment of a criminal investigation procedure to investigate possible crimes committed by Bolsonaro and Damares, including genocide, proposing appropriate criminal actions.

On Saturday, the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino, had already said that he intended to file a letter requesting investigations into the case. “There are strong indications of the crime of genocide and other crimes, which will be investigated by the Federal Police, according to the letter I will send on Monday (23),” he wrote on Twitter.

In Brazilian law, the crime of genocide is defined as the intention to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, through acts such as killing members of the group, causing serious harm to the physical or mental integrity, preventing births, forcibly transferring children or intentionally subjecting the group to conditions of existence capable of bringing about its total or partial physical destruction.

The deputies allege that, in addition to the high food shortages, several diseases hit the indigenous community “without the authorities represented here, when they had the responsibility and the constitutional duty to act to prevent the tragedy, having adopted any measures”.

On Twitter, Damares said that he followed “with pain and sadness” the images released of the Yanomami people and classified the accusations against the previous government as “lies”.

According to her, the indigenist policy in the Bolsonaro government was the responsibility of three ministries: Education, Health and Justice. Her portfolio, said Damares, was responsible for receiving complaints of violations of indigenous rights and forwarding them to the responsible authorities.

“The MMFDH was ‘in loco’ numerous times to gather information. At the height of the pandemic, we distributed basic food baskets. We sent letters to Organs responsible bodies to request action and received reports from the technical teams, which informed the measures taken”, said the former minister. .

Specialized entities, however, have already reported on different occasions evidence that, under Bolsonaro, Funai (National Indian Foundation) implemented an anti-indigenous policy, marked by the non-demarcation of territories, persecution of indigenous servants and leaders, added to a militarization of strategic positions and the emptying of the entity’s staff.

A 172-page dossier was produced by Inesc (Institute of Socioeconomic Studies) and by INA (Associated Indigenists – Association of Funai Employees), pointing to budget draining, institutional harassment, alignment with the ruralist agenda and omissions in the judicial sphere.

In addition to scrapping Funai, the Bolsonaro government is accused of having promoted the expansion of illegal mining in indigenous lands.

On his Telegram channel, the former president shared photographs of himself alongside indigenous people on Saturday and published two texts listing measures taken by his administration, such as vaccination against Covid-19 in the villages.

“THE FUEL OF THE LEFT IS THE LIE AND THE PREACHING OF DISUNION!” says the title of one of them. “AGAIN ANOTHER FARCE BY THE LEFT THE TRUTH! From 2020 to 2022, 20 health actions were carried out that took specialized care into indigenous territories”, says another of the texts.

Ministry promises to recruit professionals from Mais Médicos

This Sunday, the Ministry of Health, led by Nísia Trindade, announced that it is studying to accelerate the publication of a public notice for the More Doctors Program. The objective is to recruit professionals trained in Brazil or abroad to expand, on a permanent basis, medical care in indigenous health districts, including that which serves the Yanomami.

“The measure is one of the actions of the situation room, created this Friday (20th), to support actions to face the lack of health care for people living in Yanomami territory”, informed the folder.

The secretary of Primary Health Care, Nésio Fernandes, explained that the body already had an announcement just for Brazilians, and the other invitations —from Brazilians trained abroad and foreigners— would be made in a second moment.

“Faced with the need to bring assistance to the population of the indigenous districts, especially the Yanomami, we want to make an announcement in which everyone can register at once”, said the secretary. The idea, according to him, is to optimize work and provide assistance in indigenous districts.

“The Yanomami Special Indigenous Health District is one of the territories that most lacks professionals, with only 5% of vacancies occupied. Therefore, the need for a new public notice formulated as of this week, contemplating the need for indigenous health” , informed the ministry.