The Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino, will determine the opening of a police inquiry to investigate the crime of genocide and environmental crimes in the Yanomami Indigenous Land, in Roraima. Dino was part of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s entourage, who was today (21) in Boa Vista and saw firsthand the health crisis that affects indigenous people, victims of malnutrition and other diseases.
From MondayOn Thursday (23), the Federal Police will be at the forefront of investigations to determine who is responsible for the situation of the indigenous people. For Dino, “there are strong indications of the crime of genocide” in view of the “criminal suffering imposed on the Yanomami”.
The Yanomami indigenous land is the largest in the country, in terms of territory, and suffers from the invasion of miners. Contamination of land and water by mercury used in mining impacts the availability of food in communities.
The situation of contamination and hunger has already led to the death of 570 children in recent years, 505 of which were less than 1 year old. In addition, in 2022, 11,530 cases of malaria were confirmed in the region of the Yanomami Indigenous Special Health District. The most affected age groups are those over 50, followed by the 18-49 and 5-11 age groups.
In press interviewLula pledged to fight illegalities in indigenous lands and criticized the previous government for its inattention to the peoples of the region.
The Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sonia Guajajara also demanded accountability. “We came here in this delegation to verify this situation and also to take all the appropriate measures for us to solve this problem. We need to hold the previous management accountable for to have allowed this situation to get worse to the point of arriving here and we find adults with the weight of a child and children in a skin and bone situation”, he said in an interview to the press.
In addition to Dino and Guajajara, the ministers of Health, Nisia Trindade; Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger, Wellington Dias; of Human Rights and Citizenship, Silvio Almeida; General Secretariat of the Presidency, Marcio Macêdo; and from the Institutional Security Office, general Gonçalves Dias, in addition to the first lady Janja Silva, among other authorities.
