Lula government is criticized by the UN for slow demarcation of indigenous lands

“Among the victims were the leaders of the Pataxó hã-hã-hãe people Lucas Santos de Oliveira, killed in December 2023, and Maria de Fátima Muniz de Andrade, known as Nega Pataxó, murdered in January this year”, said the two entities.

“On September 18, Neri Ramos da Silva, a young indigenous man from the Guarani Kaiowá people, was killed while trying to recover lands demarcated for his community, still contested by private interests”, he pointed out.

Slow land demarcation progress

For the UN and the Inter-American Commission, this “wave of violence is aggravated by the slow progress in the demarcation of indigenous lands and continued legal uncertainty”.

“The situation has deteriorated since the approval of Law No. 14,701 by the Chamber of Deputies, in October 2023. This law adopts the time frame thesis, which restricts indigenous territorial claims to lands occupied before the promulgation of the Federal Constitution, in 1989” , they stated.

According to the entities, the legislation was approved despite the Executive Branch’s veto and a previous decision by the STF (Supreme Federal Court), which declared this thesis unconstitutional. “A final decision by the STF on the constitutionality of the law is still pending”, they state.