Brazil
12.09.01
Urgent Interventions
Brazil: murder of Mr. Francisco de Assis Santana, Indian leader of the Xukuru indigenous people in Pesqueira, Pernambuco State
Case BRA 120901
The International Secretariat of OMCT has just been informed of the murder of Mr. Francisco de Assis Santana, Indian leader of the Xukuru indigenous people in Pesqueira, Pernambuco State in Brazil.
According to the information received from ACAT - Christian Action for the Abolition of Torture, Mr. Francisco de Assis Santana, aged 56, a leader of the Xukuru community, was murdered in Pernambuco on 23rd August 2001.
Mr. Francisco de Assis Santana, known as “Chico Quelé”, who was the father of four sons, was allegedly ambushed within Indian territory and died of two gunshot wounds. He was on his way to the village of San José, where there is a Xuruku Indian post, for a meeting with the administrator of the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) to discuss compensation for the re-possession for farms by the Indian community. The murderer escaped in the direction of the Carrapato farm, property of José Cordeira de Santana (“Zé de Riva”) who is known in the region for his anti-Indian stance. Mr. Francisco de Assis Santana was reported to have received death threats because of his commitment in defence of traditional Xuruku territory located at Pesqueira, Pernambuco.
We learned that Mr. Francisco de Assis Santana had a prodigious memory and while working as a Counsellor, also filled the role of custodian of his people’s history. He was an idealist and had devised strategies for the formation of new Indian “warriors” whose mission it would be to pass on the “endangered memory” of the people to the next generations. This was possibly what caused his name to figure on a hit list. Furthermore, as representative of the Pé de Serra village, Mr. Francisco de Assis Santana had participated in all the struggles of the community over the last years for re-possession of their land. He had been in the struggle alongside the Cacique Francisco de Assis Araújo (known as Xicão Xukuru) who was murdered in May 1998.
According to the information received, murders in this territory seem to be carried out according to a three-year cycle : in 1995 FUNAI’s lawyer, Mr. Geraldo Rolim; in 1998 Xicão Xukuru and in 2001 Chico Quelé, all of whom were committed to the struggle for their land. The ACAT recalls that the Xukuru Indian territory was homologated by the federal government on 30th April 2001. The territory covers 27555 hectares inhabited by 8742 Indians. The Xukuru Indian community has been asking the FUNAI for the withdrawal of the occupants from and return of their lands, but this is granted on a piecemeal basis (or when a new tragedy strikes) and always less than agreed.
The International Secretariat of OMCT shares the concern of ACAT and other human rights organisations over the violence against the Indian population and workers who are fighting for the rights of thousands of Brazilian indigenous people and landless peasants.
Geneva, September 12th 2001
The International Secretariat of OMCT has just been informed of the murder of Mr. Francisco de Assis Santana, Indian leader of the Xukuru indigenous people in Pesqueira, Pernambuco State in Brazil.
According to the information received from ACAT - Christian Action for the Abolition of Torture, Mr. Francisco de Assis Santana, aged 56, a leader of the Xukuru community, was murdered in Pernambuco on 23rd August 2001.
Mr. Francisco de Assis Santana, known as “Chico Quelé”, who was the father of four sons, was allegedly ambushed within Indian territory and died of two gunshot wounds. He was on his way to the village of San José, where there is a Xuruku Indian post, for a meeting with the administrator of the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) to discuss compensation for the re-possession for farms by the Indian community. The murderer escaped in the direction of the Carrapato farm, property of José Cordeira de Santana (“Zé de Riva”) who is known in the region for his anti-Indian stance. Mr. Francisco de Assis Santana was reported to have received death threats because of his commitment in defence of traditional Xuruku territory located at Pesqueira, Pernambuco.
We learned that Mr. Francisco de Assis Santana had a prodigious memory and while working as a Counsellor, also filled the role of custodian of his people’s history. He was an idealist and had devised strategies for the formation of new Indian “warriors” whose mission it would be to pass on the “endangered memory” of the people to the next generations. This was possibly what caused his name to figure on a hit list. Furthermore, as representative of the Pé de Serra village, Mr. Francisco de Assis Santana had participated in all the struggles of the community over the last years for re-possession of their land. He had been in the struggle alongside the Cacique Francisco de Assis Araújo (known as Xicão Xukuru) who was murdered in May 1998.
According to the information received, murders in this territory seem to be carried out according to a three-year cycle : in 1995 FUNAI’s lawyer, Mr. Geraldo Rolim; in 1998 Xicão Xukuru and in 2001 Chico Quelé, all of whom were committed to the struggle for their land. The ACAT recalls that the Xukuru Indian territory was homologated by the federal government on 30th April 2001. The territory covers 27555 hectares inhabited by 8742 Indians. The Xukuru Indian community has been asking the FUNAI for the withdrawal of the occupants from and return of their lands, but this is granted on a piecemeal basis (or when a new tragedy strikes) and always less than agreed.
The International Secretariat of OMCT shares the concern of ACAT and other human rights organisations over the violence against the Indian population and workers who are fighting for the rights of thousands of Brazilian indigenous people and landless peasants.
Geneva, September 12th 2001