A report by the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), released this Monday (17), shows that the year 2022 was marked by high growth in data on violence against people as a result of conflicts in the countryside. In all, there were 553 incidents, which killed 1,065 people, 50% more than that recorded in 2021 (368, with 819 victims). In this scenario, which includes murders, assassination attempts, threats, attacks, torture and imprisonment, traditional peoples emerge as the main victims.
In 2022, 38% of the 47 people murdered in the camp were indigenous, which makes a total of 18 cases. Next come land workers (9), environmentalists (3), settlers (3) and salaried workers (3). In addition to these, the deaths of indigenist Bruno Pereira and journalist Dom Phillips, in Vale do Javari, in Amazonas, add to the critical scenario of victims of agrarian conflicts 2022.
The number of murders due to conflicts in the countryside last year represented a growth of 30.55% compared to 2021 (36 deaths) and 123% compared to the data recorded in 2020 (21 deaths).
Among the murders, the cases that occurred in Mato Grosso do Sul, in territories where the Guarani-Kaiowá indigenous peoples were retaken, stand out. There were six indigenous victims between May and December, placing the state as the third in the country that recorded the most murders resulting from conflicts in the countryside. Three of these deaths occurred in action to retake the Tekoha Guapoy, inside the Amambai Indigenous Reserve. There, ambushes and persecution resulted in the death of Vitor Fernandes, on June 24, 2022, during an illegal eviction carried out by the State Military Police, in an action that left another 15 people injured. The other victims were Márcio Moreira and Vitorino Sanches, the second a leader murdered in the center of Amambai and who had already survived another similar attack while driving along the road that gives access to Tekoha.
“We have seen a drop in land occupations and an advance in conflicts into communities occupied by traditional populations. There is an effective attack against indigenous communities, specifically”, says Isolete Wichinieski, from the National Coordination of the CPT.
women and children
Another number released by the report is that of attempted murders. In 2022, 123 occurrences of this type of violence were reported, a number 272% higher than the 33 registered in 2021. Next are the death threat data, which also increased in the comparison between 2022 and 2021, going from 144 to 206, with growth of 43.05%.
A good part of this violence due to conflicts in the countryside specifically affected women. There were six murders, a number equal to those that occurred in 2016 and 2017. The other types of violence suffered by women in 2022 were death threats (47, resulting in 27% of the total), intimidation (32, with 18%), criminalization (14, with 8%), attempted murder (13, with 7%) and aggression and humiliation (9 each, with 5%).
Children and adolescents became the target of this type of violence during the government of former President Jair Bolsonaro. From 2019 to 2022, according to figures collected by the CPT, nine teenagers and one child were killed in the countryside. Of these, five were indigenous. Among the data on violence against individuals, death as a result of conflict recorded 113 cases, 103 of which in the Yanomami Indigenous Land, with 91 child victims, representing 80.5% of cases. The Yanomami people have experienced, in recent years, a worsening of the humanitarian health and safety crisis amid the invasion of their lands by miners.
“The future of indigenous communities is threatened, not only by the invasion of their lands and the murder of leaders, but by preventing the existence of the next generations”, says Isolete. The CPT leader urges the new government to fulfill its promise to rescue territorial protection and agrarian reform policies, which demand budget and personnel. She also demands the reform and expansion of the human rights defenders program, to face the serious threats and prevent the recurrent murder of community leaders in the countryside.
The CPT’s annual report for 2022 pointed to a total of 2,018 occurrences of conflicts in the fieldinvolving 909.4 thousand people and more than 80.1 million hectares of land in dispute throughout the national territory, which corresponds to the average of one conflict every four hours.
