Seyoma Silva, mother of Borges Sifontes, a 16-year-old adolescent wounded after being shot twice by a soldier, issued a formal complaint to the superior prosecutor of Amazonas state for the arbitrary detention of her son. This was reported via social networks by Olnar Ortiz, lawyer and national coordinator of indigenous peoples of the Foro Penal organization, on Friday, June 24.
#LAST MINUTE the mother of Borges Sifontes wounded and a witness in the case of #ParimaB of 20M filed a formal complaint of the case before the Superior Prosecutor of #Amazon for arbitrary retention in which his son is found in HMCarlosArvelo @ForoPenal @TarekWiliamSaab @ONU_es @IACHR pic.twitter.com/XHBlAAE50o
– Olnar Ortiz Bare (@olnarortizBare) June 24, 2022
In the video published by Ortiz, the woman expresses her concern about the adolescent’s state of health. April 3 officials arbitrarily transferred Borges Sifontes, and his brother, Gabriel Silva out of Amazonas, to a hospital in Caracas – 820 kilometers from Parima B, his community.
Since then, neither relatives nor legal defense, nor deputies They have had free access to each other’s room. Witnesses are prohibited from visiting and leaving the room, according to Ortiz’s complaint.
Before the transfer, Sifontes underwent three operations at the José Gregorio Hernández Hospital in Puerto Ayacucho, the capital of Amazonas. And he required another surgery, as he has an exposed left shoulder fracture, a gunshot wound to the right leg and severe anemia. When he had just been transferred to the military hospital, Ortiz denounced that the boy was only administered painkillers and received psychological abuse by medical personnel.
#Amazon They continue to bring supplies to #ParimaB municipality #UpperOrinoco as part of what the National Government offered so that the Yanomami indigenous people would let the Air Force personnel leave, after the events that occurred last #20March
? courtesy pic.twitter.com/voYe6bVUH9
– Carolina Azavache (@CarolinaAzavach) May 26, 2022
The case has been handled with opacity and secrecy. The wounded soldiers were also removed from Amazonas after spending more than five days held in the indigenous community. The Yanomami prevented their departure as a measure of clamor for justice.
The NGOs have denounced attempts by the State to negotiate with the community and hide the facts. Local journalists reported that there were negotiations between the government and the community to let the military go in exchange for food, school supplies, and other supplies that they lack.
But the scope of these agreements in which they were excluded is unknown: the Amazonas Ombudsman and the indigenous organizations Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Amazonas (Orpia) and Bolivarian Indigenous Confederation of Amazonas (Coiba).
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On April 28, Olnar Ortiz managed to denounce the murders in Parima B before the United Nations (UN) through a private meeting with José Francisco Calí Tzay, special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples of the UN, during the period of sessions of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
These crimes were denounced by bodies such as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) and Amnesty International, which urged the State to clarify what happened, reveal the whereabouts of the witnesses, arrest those responsible, and make reparations to the victims and survivors of the event.
So far there has been no progress in the investigations, despite the appointment of five prosecutors from the Public Ministry.
Massacre of March 20, 2022
Four indigenous people, two men and one woman, were killed by soldiers from the Aviation component of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) on the afternoon of Sunday, March 20, in Parima B, southern Amazonas state. A remote community only accessible by air.
The shooting began minutes after the military denied internet access to the Yanomami indigenous, they surrounded the FANB base to demand the return of an internet device owned by the captain of the community and the officials proceeded to arrest the second indigenous captain . It was then that the son of the second captain allegedly took the weapons of a soldier and shot at the officers to free his father.
The military officials began to shoot, four people died and another five were injured, including two soldiers and an indigenous minor.
