MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the situation of the Guarini-Kaiowa in the Brazilian State of Mato Grosso

22.11.2016 - (2016/2991(RSP))

with request for inclusion in the agenda for a debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 135 of the Rules of Procedure

Charles Tannock, Mark Demesmaeker, Ryszard Antoni Legutko, Ryszard Czarnecki, Tomasz Piotr Poręba, Karol Karski, Notis Marias, Angel Dzhambazki, Monica Macovei, Ruža Tomašić, Raffaele Fitto, Jana Žitňanská, Arne Gericke on behalf of the ECR Group

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B8-1260/2016

B8‑1262/2016

European Parliament resolution on the situation of the Guarini-Kaiowa in the Brazilian State of Mato Grosso

(2016/2991(RSP))

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Brazilian constitution of 1988,

–  having regard to the 2004 law establishing the Bolsa Familia of Brazil and its implementing measures,

–  having regard to the report of the UN special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous people,

–  having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 10 December 1948,

–  having regard to the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders of 1998,

–  having regard to Rules 135(5) and 123(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

 

 

A. whereas the Guarani-Kaiowa' are an indigenous people living in the Brazilian state of Matto Grosso, numbering 30,000, making them the largest such group in Brazil;

B. whereas historically indigenous people have suffered as immigrants have arrived, settling first on the coast and then moving further inland displacing the indigenous people from their traditional homelands and way of life;

C. whereas the Guarani-Kaiowa' have been progressively squeezed out of their ancestral lands by the encroachment of large scale agricultural over the last forty years;

D. whereas in the Brazilian constitution of 1988 article 231 recognises the social organisation and customs of indigenous peoples as well as their rights to the lands they traditionally occupied and the Brazilian Union’s duty to protect them, article 232 recognises their right to sue to defend their rights and interests;

E. whereas the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous People, Victoria Taudi-Corpuz, expressing deep concern over the frequent cases of violence against rural activists and indigenous people involved in conflicts over land and the regression in the protection of the Guarani-Kaiowa' in Mato Grosso do Sul urged the authorities to conduct investigations into all attacks and killings of indigenous peoples and bring perpetrators to justice;

 

 

 

1. Notes that the indigenous Guarani-Kaiowa' people, whose culture and life existed before the arrival of settlers who now occupy their lands, are in need of the special protection of Brazil and that greater efforts to move beyond the current impasse in relation to land demarcation are required;

 

2. Urges the Brazilian authorities to fully apply the provisions of the Brazilian constitution on the protection of individual rights and on the rights of minorities and defenceless ethnic groups to the Guarani-Kaiowa';

 

3. Considers that Brazil should take measures to provide the same level of medical, educational and social support to the Guarani-Kaiowa' that all Brazilians are entitled to;

 

 

4. Urges the Brazilian authorities to broaden eligibility for the Bolsa Familia for the Guarani-Kaiowa' taking into account their cultural specificities and to even consider awarding the benefit to them without test of eligibility;

 

5. Urges the Ministry of Justice to expedite the process of demarcation of the Guarani-Kaiowa' lands and to vigorously oppose frivolous lawsuits brought by large landowners to slow the process down;

 

 

6. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Commission, the Member States and the Government and Parliament of Brazil.