MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the situation of indigenous and environmental defenders in Brazil, including the killing of Dom Philips and Bruno Pereira

5.7.2022 - (2022/2752(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 144 of the Rules of Procedure

Raffaele Fitto, Ryszard Antoni Legutko, Anna Fotyga, Karol Karski, Hermann Tertsch, Bogdan Rzońca, Elżbieta Rafalska, Ryszard Czarnecki, Witold Jan Waszczykowski, Adam Bielan, Valdemar Tomaševski, Ladislav Ilčić, Jadwiga Wiśniewska, Elżbieta Kruk, Zbigniew Kuźmiuk, Eugen Jurzyca, Nicola Procaccini, Vincenzo Sofo,
on behalf of the ECR Group

NB: This motion for a resolution is available in the original language only.

B9‑0357/2022

European Parliament resolution on the situation of indigenous and environmental defenders in Brazil, including the killing of Dom Philips and Bruno Pereira

(2022/2752(RSP))

The European Parliament,

—  having regard to its previous resolutions on Brazil,

—  having regard to its previous resolutions on human rights and environmental defenders,

—  having regard to the recent OHCHR report of 10 June 2022,

—  having regard to the Charter of the United Nations,

—  having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948,

—  having regard the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007,

—  having regard the United Nations Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2018,

—  having regards to EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders of June 2004, as updated in 2008,

—  having regard to Rule 144 of its Rules of Procedure,

 

 

1. whereas the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights have been denouncing attacks on indigenous and environmental rights, and as well as other representatives of civil society, i.e. journalists, in Brazil for many years;
2. whereas British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenous expert Bruno Pereira were reported missing on June 5 in the Javari Valley, part of the Brazilian Amazon; whereas they were traveling through the Javari Valley in order to visit and interview an Indigenous Vigilance team;
3. whereas on June 15 the Brazilian Federal Police confirmed the arrest of two men during the investigation, one of the them confessing being responsible of the murders of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira and indicating the place where the bodies could be found;
4. whereas in 2017 the UN Special Rapporteurs Victoria Tauli Corpuz (rights of indigenous peoples) Michel Forst (human rights defenders), and on the (human rights defenders), John Knox (human rights defenders) and the IACHR Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Francisco José Eguiguren Praeli, denounced the highest number of killings of environmental, land defenders and as well as other representatives of civil society, i.e. journalists, in Brazil over the past 15 years, as well as the cases seen in other countries in the region;
5. whereas in many Latin American countries the deficiencies in democratic governance, rule of law and judicial independence and the existence of organized criminal networks create dangerous conditions for environmental defenders and as well as other representatives of civil society, i.e. journalists;
6. whereas in 2020, Global Witness documented 227 murders of land and environmental defenders and as well as other representatives of civil society, i.e. journalists, around the world, nearly three quarters of these killings taking place in Latin America, with countries like Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil and countries in Central America accounting for most of them.
7. whereas the implementation of regional mechanisms like the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and multilateral agreements like the UN Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (the Escazú Agreement), have established legally binding commitments to protect environmental defenders and as well as other representatives of civil society, i.e. journalists;

1. Condemns the violent actions perpetrated in the Javari Valley, resulting in the killings of the British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, and expresses all its support to their families;
2. Calls on the Brazilian authorities to conduct effective investigations to clarify the circumstances surrounding the killings of the British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, and to ensure prompt and fair trials to the perpetrators;
3. Calls on Brazilian authorities to strengthen institutional, legal and security protection for indigenous peoples, environmental defenders and as well as other representatives of civil society, i.e. journalists, focusing special efforts in the Amazon region;
4. Urges the Brazilian government to make every possible effort to ensure accountability of human rights violations and to provide all necessary economic and human resources to fight the attacks against indigenous peoples, environmental defenders and as well as other representatives of civil society, i.e. journalists;
5. States that the expansion of criminal organizations involved in the extraction of metal ores in the region has a direct impact in the increasing dangers faced by indigenous, environmental defenders and as well as other representatives of civil society, i.e. journalists, in Latin America;
6. Calls on the newly appointed UN Special Rapporteur on environmental defenders, Mr. Michel Forst, to dedicate special efforts to promote the effective implementation of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders in cooperation and dialogue with Governments and other actors in the Latin American region;

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 Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Council of Europe, the OECD and to the President, Government and Parliament of Brazil.