TITLE:
Nature and Human Rights of Indigenous Communities in the Amazon: A Cartography of Violence under Brazilian Governments
AUTHORS:
Antonio Carlos Wolkmer, Felipe de Araújo Chersoni, Débora Ferrazzo
KEYWORDS:
Indigenous Peoples, Environment, Amazonian Territory, Violence, Human Rights Violations
JOURNAL NAME:
Beijing Law Review,
Vol.15 No.4,
December
31,
2024
ABSTRACT: The Amazon serves as a pivotal intersection for two essential aspects of human rights: environmental preservation (for the benefit of humankind) and the habitation of community territories, where indigenous peoples, quilombolas, riverine communities, and others reside while safeguarding nature. These communities face significant threats from violence in the Amazon, manifested in invasions, deforestation, and illegal mining—challenges that, although historical, have been worsened in recent years (2019 to 2022) due to the suspension of the demarcation of indigenous lands and governmental actions that have amplified human rights violations in the region. Addressing these violations will necessitate many years of continuous and systematic efforts by official bodies. Consequently, our objective is to contribute to the understanding of the causes behind these issues to identify preventive solutions. We employed a deductive methodology, utilizing bibliographic research from secondary sources grounded in interdisciplinary-critical theories. Through historical and comparative analyses, we collected and systematized data on the Amazon corresponding to various government periods and quantitative indicators of forms of violence. Beyond period comparisons, we derive partial insights from relational comparisons over an extended historical timeline. The comparison by superimposing cartographic resulted in the demonstration of the highest levels of deforestation, invasions of territories and other forms of human rights violations, all reached during the 2019 to 2022 national government period. We therefore conclude that short periods of authoritarian governments can produce persistent humanitarian issues, hence the need for theorizing in relation to such periods.