Cookies help us run our site more efficiently.

By clicking “Accept”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. View our Privacy Policy for more information or to customize your cookie preferences.

Accept Deny

GoGreenNation news

Brazil Court Drops a Suspect in Amazon Slayings of a British Journalist and an Indigenous Advocate

News Feed
Wednesday, September 18, 2024

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — A federal court in Brazil dismissed charges Tuesday against one of three men arrested for the killings of Indigenous peoples expert Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips in the Amazon, ruling there wasn’t enough evidence to try him. Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, a poor fisherman who lived by the Itaquai River, was arrested on June 14, 2022, nine days after the slayings. Also arrested were his brother, Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, and Jefferson da Silva Lima, who confessed to the killings but claimed self-defense. The Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region upheld a lower court decision that they will now face a jury trial. With the ruling, Oseney Oliveira, a father of four, will be released following 27 months in prison, most in a federal penitentiary thousands of miles from Atalaia do Norte, his hometown in Brazil’s Amazon, where the killings occurred.A Colombian businessman, Rubens Villar Coelho, stands accused of masterminding the slayings and is also in custody. As the owner of a floating fish warehouse outpost, he financed illegal fishermen who ventured onto Indigenous land. He denies any involvement in the killings.In a statement, Univaja, an association of Indigenous peoples of the Javari Valley where Pereira was working at the time of his killing, said it received the ruling with “indignation” and “concern” and urged federal prosecutors to appeal the decision.Phillips and Pereira were traveling along the Itaquai River near the entrance of the Javari Valley Indigenous Territory, which borders Peru and Colombia, when they were attacked. Their bodies were dismembered, burned and buried. Their disappearance sparked intense international outcry and pressure for action. Pereira, a well-known advocate for Indigenous rights, fought against illegal fishing in Javari area, while Phillips, an experienced journalist, was working on a book about Amazon preservation.The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - July 2024

A federal court in Brazil has dismissed charges against one of three men arrested in the killings of an Indigenous peoples expert and a British journalist in the Amazon, ruling there wasn’t sufficient evidence to try him

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — A federal court in Brazil dismissed charges Tuesday against one of three men arrested for the killings of Indigenous peoples expert Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips in the Amazon, ruling there wasn’t enough evidence to try him.

Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, a poor fisherman who lived by the Itaquai River, was arrested on June 14, 2022, nine days after the slayings.

Also arrested were his brother, Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, and Jefferson da Silva Lima, who confessed to the killings but claimed self-defense. The Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region upheld a lower court decision that they will now face a jury trial.

With the ruling, Oseney Oliveira, a father of four, will be released following 27 months in prison, most in a federal penitentiary thousands of miles from Atalaia do Norte, his hometown in Brazil’s Amazon, where the killings occurred.

A Colombian businessman, Rubens Villar Coelho, stands accused of masterminding the slayings and is also in custody. As the owner of a floating fish warehouse outpost, he financed illegal fishermen who ventured onto Indigenous land. He denies any involvement in the killings.

In a statement, Univaja, an association of Indigenous peoples of the Javari Valley where Pereira was working at the time of his killing, said it received the ruling with “indignation” and “concern” and urged federal prosecutors to appeal the decision.

Phillips and Pereira were traveling along the Itaquai River near the entrance of the Javari Valley Indigenous Territory, which borders Peru and Colombia, when they were attacked. Their bodies were dismembered, burned and buried. Their disappearance sparked intense international outcry and pressure for action.

Pereira, a well-known advocate for Indigenous rights, fought against illegal fishing in Javari area, while Phillips, an experienced journalist, was working on a book about Amazon preservation.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Photos You Should See - July 2024

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

Related News

Indigenous Peoples Denounce Whale Offsets at UN Biodiversity Summit

Indigenous Peoples Denounce Whale Offsets at UN Biodiversity Summit Cali, Colombia – Indigenous Peoples at the United Nations biodiversity summit denounced the International Monetary Fund’s plans to commodify sacred whales for biodiversity and carbon offsets. Such perverse proposals have prompted many delegates to wonder if the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the Convention […] The post Indigenous Peoples Denounce Whale Offsets at UN Biodiversity Summit first appeared on Indigenous Environmental Network.

Indigenous Peoples Denounce Whale Offsets at UN Biodiversity Summit Cali, Colombia – Indigenous Peoples at the United Nations biodiversity summit denounced the International Monetary Fund’s plans to commodify sacred whales for biodiversity and carbon offsets. Such perverse proposals have prompted many delegates to wonder if the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the Convention […] The post Indigenous Peoples Denounce Whale Offsets at UN Biodiversity Summit first appeared on Indigenous Environmental Network.

Indigenous

Ecuador's Indigenous Defenders Face Growing Threats, Activists Say at UN Summit

By Oliver GriffinCALI, Colombia (Reuters) -Indigenous environmental defenders in Ecuador are suffering an increasing number of threats and...

CALI, Colombia (Reuters) - Indigenous environmental defenders in Ecuador are suffering an increasing number of threats and sometimes deadly attacks amid spiraling violence in the country, activists said on Friday at the U.N. COP16 nature talks in Colombia.Nearly 200 countries are gathered in the city of Cali in an attempt to agree on a deal to implement the landmark 2022 Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework agreement that aims to end destruction of nature by 2030.Among the goals of that agreement was heightened protection for environmental defenders. But during the summit, slated to end late on Friday, Indigenous activists from Ecuador said danger for their communities was growing."It's become a tense and terrible problem in Ecuador," Juan Bay, president of the Waorani Indigenous community, told Reuters, adding that threats have increased since a 2023 referendum in Ecuador approved a ban on oil drilling in the Amazon.Ecuador has experienced rising violence in recent years at the hands of organized crime, with President Daniel Noboa declaring a state of internal armed conflict earlier this year and designating almost two dozen gangs as terrorist groups.Negotiations at COP16 include discussions around monitoring killings of people targeted for efforts to protect the environment, but a proposed measure for recording them does not go far enough, said Natalia Gomez, the climate change policy advisor for advocacy group, EarthRights."Unfortunately, that indicator being discussed is optional and binary, which means that governments will only say, 'Yes, we're doing it', or 'No, we're not doing it'," she said.According to the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity website, Ecuador has not reported on its aims to protect environmental defenders."Ecuador has seen an increase" in threats, Astrid Puentes, U.N. special rapporteur on the right to a healthy environment, told Reuters.Ecuador's government must comply with standards for environmental protection and implement protection measures for those who might receive threats, Puentes said.Ecuador's secretariat of indigenous peoples and nationalities did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters.Reported killings are creating a climate of fear for Indigenous communities trying to protect their homes, said Jhajayra Machoa, from CONFENIAE, the main organization of indigenous groups in Ecuador's Amazon."It's very hard to face this situation," she said.(Reporting by Oliver Griffin; Additional reporting by Alexandra Valencia in Quito; Editing by Jake Spring and Sandra Maler)Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters.

Indigenous
Activism
Government

Staff Spotlight – Mona Pollaca

Staff Spotlight: Mona Pollaca  The positive role and the wisdom of grandmothers is revered among Indigenous Peoples. IEN Indigenous Water Ethics Organizer Mona Pollaca is a Havasupai, Hopi, and Tewa member of the Colorado River Indian Tribes from Arizona is an example of the kind of grandmother who is held in high esteem, even beyond […] The post Staff Spotlight – Mona Pollaca first appeared on Indigenous Environmental Network.

Staff Spotlight: Mona Pollaca  The positive role and the wisdom of grandmothers is revered among Indigenous Peoples. IEN Indigenous Water Ethics Organizer Mona Pollaca is a Havasupai, Hopi, and Tewa member of the Colorado River Indian Tribes from Arizona is an example of the kind of grandmother who is held in high esteem, even beyond […] The post Staff Spotlight – Mona Pollaca first appeared on Indigenous Environmental Network.

Indigenous
Water

Indigenous People March in Brazil's Capital Against Bill Limiting Land Rights

Hundreds of Indigenous people were marching Wednesday in Brazil’s capital, urging Congress to drop a proposed constitutional amendment that has the potential to paralyze and even reverse land allocations

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Bearing images of animals and covered in body paint, hundreds of Indigenous people marched Wednesday in Brazil's capital, urging Congress to drop a proposed constitutional amendment that has the potential to paralyze and even reverse land allocations.The bill aims to add to the Constitution a legal theory, championed by the agribusiness caucus, that the date the Constitution was promulgated — Oct. 5, 1988 — should be the deadline for Indigenous peoples to have already either physically occupied claimed land or be legally fighting to reoccupy territory. Lawmakers from the caucus also claim it provides legal certainty for landholders.Indigenous rights groups have argued that establishing a deadline is unfair, as it does not account for expulsions and forced displacements of Indigenous populations, particularly during Brazil’s agriculture frontier expansion in the 20th century.“We are aware of the interests of mining companies, ranchers and oil companies in our lands. How many lives will be destroyed if this bill passes?” Alessandra Korap, an Indigenous leader of the Munduruku tribe, told The Associated Press.On Sept. 21, 2023, the Supreme Court rejected the deadline concept, which formed part of a lawsuit brought by Santa Catarina state. In the vote that secured the majority, Justice Luiz Fux argued that areas connected to Indigenous ancestry and traditions are protected by the Constitution, even if not officially recognized. It was a moment of widespread celebration among Indigenous communities and their advocates.One week after the ruling, pro-agribusiness lawmakers began pushing for congressional approval of the deadline. One initiative is the proposed constitutional amendment that the Indigenous movement fears will come up for a vote in the coming days.Congress also passed a law in December that established the 1988 deadline. The Indigenous movement and political parties appealed to the Supreme Court, which hasn't yet issued a ruling on the matter. During a speech in Congress, the author of the constitutional amendment, Sen. Hiran Gonçalves, stated that his proposal aims to settle the issue definitively, thereby ending legal uncertainty.Dinamam Tuxá, head of the rights group Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, told the Associated Press that, if approved, the bill will lead to the suspension of Indigenous land demarcations, escalate socio-environmental conflicts and increase deforestation.Maisonnave reported from BrasilandiaThe Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - Sept. 2024

Indigenous
Agriculture
Business

Analysis-Australian Mine Fight Reignites Aboriginal Heritage Tensions

By Melanie BurtonMELBOURNE (Reuters) - Wiradjuri elder Nyree Reynolds calls her home west of Sydney the valley of the Bilabula, the Indigenous name...

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Wiradjuri elder Nyree Reynolds calls her home west of Sydney the valley of the Bilabula, the Indigenous name for its river. The river features in Wiradjuri stories about the creation of their land, she told state planning regulators, "And no one has the right to destroy this."On her objections, the Australian government in August ordered miner Regis Resources to find a new dam site for a A$1 billion ($685 million) gold project on the grounds its proposed location for storing rock and chemical waste would irreparably harm culture attached to the river.The decision by Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek under a rarely used Aboriginal heritage protection law has stoked an outcry from mining groups who say Regis followed all legal processes and the decision raises sovereign risk for developers.The government's action adds to the uncertainty miners have faced since iron ore giant Rio Tinto legally destroyed ancient Aboriginal rock shelters at Juukan Gorge four years ago and raises the urgency to overhaul heritage protection laws.At least three other resources projects are facing review, like Regis did, under Section 10 of the law that allows Aboriginal people to apply to protect areas important to them when other legal avenues have failed."You can get all the state environmental approvals, all the federal environmental approvals and at the end of the process a Section 10, ... essentially a federal minister can ... make your project unviable," said Warren Pearce, CEO of the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies. "That's the definition of sovereign risk."While Reynolds objected to Regis' mine, a local Aboriginal group representing Wiradjuri people, authorised by the state to speak for cultural heritage, had concluded that impacts from the project could be managed.Regis said in August it is considering its legal options after writing down the value of its project by more than $100 million.The decision on Regis' project was the second by the government in as many months to back Indigenous groups over miners.ERA, majority owned by mining giant Rio Tinto, is suing the government on procedural fairness grounds after it did not renew the miner's exploration lease on uranium rich land.Government officials and some investors say developers need to engage earlier and more deeply with Indigenous groups when planning projects, but new laws governing heritage protection that would assist the process are yet to arrive.The government has not said when it expects to finalise the legislation. Only Western Australia has made some heritage reforms, leaving the industry relying on a patchwork of old state legislation to manage heritage protection at a time when Australia is marketing itself as a supplier of ethical metals.Resources projects with outstanding Section 10 objections include miner Bellevue Gold's plan to dig under a desert lake and Woodside's Scarborough natural gas project that will feed a gas plant in a region rich in ancient rock art that the government has nominated for a UNESCO World Heritage listing. Both projects are in Western Australia.But not all objections are equal when it comes to politics, especially with the centre-left Labor government facing an election in 2025.Woodside is unlikely to face the same setback as Regis, said MST Marquee senior energy analyst Saul Kavonic, as the $12.5 billion Scarborough gas project is "extremely politically important to the Labor government in Western Australia".Plibersek's office said it could not comment on the Scarborough project as the issue is under consideration.Both Woodside and Bellevue said they take their responsibilities to manage Aboriginal cultural heritage seriously.Bellevue said it has permission from the Tjiwarl native title group to dig under the lake as part of a heritage management plan.The government's action comes after it failed in a referendum last year that sought to give Indigenous Australians special recognition in the country's constitution and an advisory voice to lawmakers.Some people think the government is now acting to appease inner city east coast voters who backed the referendum and who may want to vote for the Greens rather than support mining."Here is a government trying to scramble to make itself look good, because it absolutely gutted the opportunity for us to have a voice in Parliament," said Wonnarua man Scott Franks, who has filed three section 10s against developments in the state's coal rich Hunter Valley region and lost them all.When asked if she was catering to Green voters with her decision on Regis, Plibersek told reporters on Aug. 28 that she had consulted widely: "I made the decision based on facts."Australia's minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, said the government was working hard with Aboriginal groups on new heritage protection laws."The Australian Government is deeply concerned about the destruction of First Nations heritage values anywhere in Australia," McCarthy said in a statement to Reuters.A key issue that needs to be addressed is to make clear exactly who developers need to consult to ensure projects do not harm important sites on the traditional lands or countries of Indigenous groups."Our whole objective is to remove this sort of uncertainty that people are dealing with to make it clear who speaks for the Country," Plibersek told Australian Broadcasting Corp on Aug. 28.Regis said it had consulted with 13 different groups and individuals during the permitting process."Regis takes its relationship with the Aboriginal stakeholders at our operations very seriously and conducted extensive engagement with Aboriginal parties from an early stage in the approvals process," it said in a statement to Reuters.To help miners manage consultations on protecting Aboriginal heritage while the rules are revised, the Responsible Investment Association Australasia, which counts 75% of the country's institutional investors as members, worked with First Nations, the government and mining giant BHP on best practices."The current laws remain inadequate, which is why we need investors and corporates themselves to step up," the association's co-CEO, Estelle Parker, said.Among its recommendations, the association urges miners to adhere to free, prior and informed consent that can be withdrawn at any time.The guide is "ambitious and probably unrealistic", law firm Ashurst said in a 2024 report, but it advised miners to get familiar with it."Be aware that change will come to Federal heritage laws. When it does, it will be closer to the expectations expressed in these recent publications than the current legal framework."($1 = 1.4601 Australian dollars)(Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Sonali Paul)Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters.

Indigenous
Chemicals
Energy

Suggested Viewing

L’eau Est La Vie (Water Is Life): From Standing Rock To The Swamp

On the banks of Louisiana, fierce Indigenous women are ready to fight—to stop the corporate blacksnake and preserve their way of life. They are risking everything to protect Mother Earth from the predatory fossil fuel companies that seek to poison it. The film follows water protector Cherri Foytlin in the swamps of Louisiana as she leads us on a no-nonsense journey of indigenous resistance to the Bayou Bridge Pipeline (BBP), which is an extension of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The pipelines are part of an ongoing legacy of colonization and slow genocide. At the heart of the struggle is a battle between people and profit.

Indigenous
Resources
Activism

Bread For Tomorrow

Bread for Tomorrow is a short film about the Indigenous Wicungo community’s struggle to gain legal ownership of their ancestral territory in Peru and how Rainforest Trust’s partner, Center for the Development of an Indigenous Amazon, has helped them to reclaim the rights to their homes and livelihoods.

Land Use
Conservation
Indigenous

Juskatla

Juskatla weaves together perspectives of the people who live on the islands of Haida Gwaii—an archipelago on Canada’s Northwest coast, and the ancestral territories of the Haida Nation. From industrial loggers who harvest trees from ancient forests, to Sphenia Jones, a Haida matriarch who bears an intimate knowledge of her People’s territories, Juskatla meditates on the divergent ways of being that shape the islands and its people.

Forests
Indigenous
Culture

Kumu Niu

The island of O'ahu is covered with coconut palms, but for fear of liability the vast majority of these sacred trees have been stripped of coconuts. The grassroots movement "Niu Now" is on a mission to restore the "niu," or coconut, as a fundamental food crop in Hawai'i and spread the Indigenous wisdom of "aloha 'āina:" loving land and serving people.

Land Use
Indigenous
Food

The Custodians of the Andean Gold

In the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes, more than 3 800 meters above sea level, live alpaca and vicunia breeders. Quechua and Aymara families protect their animals live off of the sale of the animals’ fiber. Gold mining is another activity that predates the Conquest and is widespread among families living in the border area between Peru and Bolivia. The difficult compatibility on the same territory of these two production activities increases the need for environmental protection and workers' rights. It has become indispensable to support producers so that this activity does not disappear with the migration of native peoples, abandoning traditions and animals.

Animals
Indigenous
Business

Join us to forge
a sustainable future

Our team is always growing.
Become a partner, volunteer, sponsor, or intern today.
Let us know how you would like to get involved!

CONTACT US

sign up for our mailing list to stay informed on the latest films and environmental headlines.

Subscribers receive a free day pass for streaming Cinema Verde.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.