anglais
espagnol
GLOBAL MOVEMENT FOR A CULTURE OF PEACE

Sur la gauche ci-dessous, vous trouverez un article de CPNN et sur la droite la discussion qui s'y rapporte. Vous êtes invité à lire et à discuter en cliquant sur l'une des questions listées ici, ou, si vous le souhaitez, poser une nouvelle question. Prenez le temps de cocher l'un des boutons ci-dessous en choisissant le niveau de priorité qui doit être donné à cet article.

S'informer Êcrire Lire Accueil L'équipe Discuter Rechercher S'inscrire Contact
par domain d'action
par région
par catégorie
par date
Les Nations Unis et la Culture de Paix
Le Mouvement Mondial pour une Culture de Paix
Valeurs, Attitudes, Actions
CPNN Reglements
Envoyer un Rapport
Devenez un Reporter de CPNN


Brazil's first indigenous woman lawyer beats prejudice to battle for land rights
un article par Thin Lei Win, Thomson Reuters Foundation

Raised in isolated villages in the Brazilian Amazon, Joenia Batista de Carvalho grew up loving nature and taking pride in her tribe’s customs, way of life and Indian identity. Carvalho is a Wapixana Indian, one of five tribes totalling around 20,000 people who have lived for generations in the Raposa-Serra do Sol - meaning “Land of the Fox and Mountain of the Sun” - in Brazil’s northernmost Roraima state.


Joenia Batista de Carvalho, the first female indigenous lawyer in Brazil, pictured at the "Summit on Women and Climate" in Bali, Indonesia, Aug. 6, 2014. TRF/Thin Lei Win

click on photo to enlarge

When Carvalho was seven, the family moved to town while her father stayed behind. That was when she became keenly aware of the prejudice Indians face in Brazil. “People don’t want to stand close to you. They are suspicious - they think you are a disgusting person and you will steal their things,” she recalled. There were sniggers about her looks and ambition.

The family’s move was for the sake of the children’s education, but only Carvalho, the youngest of six, managed to shake off the persistent discrimination and stay in school. The experience strengthened her resolve to help her people.

“That is the reason I studied law: to become someone who can support indigenous communities,” she told Thomson Reuters Foundation at the first “Summit on Women and Climate” in Bali, Indonesia, earlier this month. “For me it’s about being able to do something for ourselves - not waiting for orders from the state or people who want to take away our land,” she added.

True to her words, Carvalho became Brazil’s first female indigenous lawyer, despite scepticism from classmates and even her own community. “When I started, the first challenge was with my own people. Women studying was not a common practice, and the indigenous leaders asked me whether I could do a man’s job,” she said. “I needed to work harder than others and prove I was capable.”

Since then, Carvalho has dedicated herself to fighting for indigenous land rights and against deforestation.

Her battle could receive a boost if Marina Silva, a popular anti- establishment icon and former environment minister just selected by the Brazilian Socialist Party as its presidential candidate, wins October’s elections.

A decade ago, Carvalho took on powerful interests encroaching on her ancestral land. According to Survival International, over 20 Indians were killed and hundreds injured in some three decades of struggle pitting the tribes against ranchers, miners, loggers and farmers backed by local and national politicians.

In early 2004, Carvalho submitted a complaint to the Inter- American Commission on Human Rights, urging the Brazilian government to complete demarcation of the Raposa-Serra do Sol reserve so that the area would be protected. She also brought the case to the Brazilian Supreme Court.

(This article is continued in the discussionboard)

DISCUSSION

Il n'y pas encore de question liée à cet article.

* * * * *

Commentaire le plus récent:

(The following is continued from the main article listed above.)

In April 2005, the area was officially recognised by the government of Luis Inácio Lula da Silva.

But indigenous jubilation was short-lived.

The Roraima state government soon lodged a petition with the Supreme Court contesting the recognition and demanding the reserve be reduced in size. The military also wanted it broken up, arguing that Indian reservations along national borders represented a security threat, according to Survival International.

Carvalho once again represented the Indians, using the law, often regarded as a white man’s weapon, to ensure that indigenous communities would have rights to the land they have been living on as long as they can remember.

In a landmark ruling in March 2009, the majority of Supreme Court judges upheld the Indians’ rights to their land.

Carvalho became synonymous with the case. For her, it was a conscious decision to take on a high-profile role.

“Before, indigenous people were totally invisible. . ... continuation.


Cet article a été mis en ligne le September 6, 2014.