NATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR REGULARIZATION OF QUILOMBO LAND
QUILOMBOL@ www.cohre.org/quilombos
Editorial We want to congratulate all those who participated in the preparation of this new Electronic bulletin Quilombol@. The publication is part of a nationwide campaign called “Social Justice and Regularization of the Quilombo lands“ which is being promoted by The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, (Cohre); The National Coordination of actions by the quilombo communities (Conaq); and by the Association of Rural AfroBrazilian quilombo communities of Maranhão (Aconeruq). SELAVIP, The Ford Foundation and the Swiss Embassy in Rio de Janeiro support the initiative. As well as providing information and promoting debates, the campaign will be able to count on legal initiatives directed towards making the processes of regularizing, documenting and titling the lands occupied by the quilombolas more effective. It will also promote programs of leadership training to develop community leaders able to take advantage of existing national and international legislation that could be used to further the communities´ objectives. The Quilombol@. will publicize advances and challenges in the entitlement process in the communities, as well as providing information on their way of life and the general housing situation. In this way, it will be an open space for anyone interested in sharing information and experiences helpful in the quilombolas´ struggle to achieve full enjoyment of their social, economic and cultural rights. A fraternal abraço and good reading! COHRE AMERICAS
Land ownership conflicts in Alcântara of President Fernando Collor to 62000 hectares. In 2000, the Brazilian Federal Government signed an agreement with the USA government for the commercial use of the facility.
Civic entities and community leaders attempting to solve the problems generated by the growth of the installations of the Equatorial Space Launch facility (CLA) near the town of Alcântara in Northern Brazil, reiterated, in a recent hearing at the Federal Government offices, the need to speedup the legal processes for regularization of land ownership in the nearby quilombo communities which are being seriously affected by the growth of the federal facility. From the point of view of civic society, regularization is the most effective way to solve the economic, social and cultural problems now afflicting these traditional communities and which are caused principally by the expansion plans of this military facility in the Brazilian State of Maranhão. The demand was reaffirmed at another meeting promoted by the Special Inter-Ministerial Group (GEI) on the 18th of February where proposals from civic societies were discussed in the presence of representatives of MABE (Movimento dos Atingidos pela Base); Aconeruq; The Human Rights Society of Maranhão; The National Report on Housing Rights; Cohre; The Office of the Mayor of Alcântara and other Ministries and Secretariats who are ex-oficio members of the GEI. The CLA was created in 1983 for launching and tracking rockets and originally occupied an area of 52 000 hectares, mostly quilombo land. This was increased during the government
The CLA facility occupies 55% of the Alcântara municipal area where some 3600 families live. During the last two decades, 20 communities (1350 persons) were forcibly removed from their traditional homes in the village to jerry-built, so-called “agrovilas” where the land is of very poor quality and where they live in uncertainty as no land titles were provided. The natural resources are poor or non-existent, fishing is impossible and hunting for whatever few wild animals exist has been made difficult, the sea beaches are a long way away and the military base itself restricts access to the natural resources. Now, eight more of the local communities have been threatened with forcible removal (Samucangaua, Iririzal, Ladeira, Só Assim, Santa Maria, Canelatiua, Itapera and Mamuninha) and if carried out, this would involve the removal of a further 1350 persons, mostly quilombo communities. These violations of the economic, social and cultural rights of the quilombolas, brought about by the expansion of the Space Centre are being closely observed by various Brazilian and International organisations. It was in an effort to mediate and resolve the problem that President created the GEI in 2004. Although initially this group seemed to be heading in the right direction by listening to statements from both sides of the question, and by recognising the errors of the previous governments, the fact that time is passing without any official manifestation about the planned forcible removals, is raising doubts and causing considerable concern.
Quilombol@, March 2005
World Social Forum
Communities Denounce Violation of Rights
During the workshop, ´´Guarantees and Violations of the Right to Land and Housing in the Ethnic territories of the Afro-descendent communities”, held at V World Social Forum, community leaders denounced violations of Human Rights occurring in their communities. ´´In the 70´s decade, the multinational corporation Aracruz Celulose established itself in the north region of the Brazilian State of Espírito Santo. With assistance from the Brazilian Federal Government, the corporation took over land occupied for centuries by the quilombolas on the pretext that the population did not possess legal documentation to the land. Using this pretext, the corporation forced the population to leave and take up residence in slums on the peripheries of nearby cities. Some 2000 families resisted the removal and are today isolated in the midst of enormous monoculture plantations of eucalyptus trees destined for the production of cellulose. Many of these persons cannot even walk in the new forests due to repressive action by the corporation’s forestry guards. Many of the quilombolas families received death threats when they tried to denounce the corporation to the authorities. In the town of Sapé do North, the community is without water because the eucalyptus tree sucks large amounts of water from the surrounding land. Most of the previously abundant
streams have dried up and the small wild have forsaken the area. The families cannot survive by fishing or by their traditional artisanal products - the monoculture of eucalyptus has taken over he entire area. “ Domingas Dealdina, APAC Association of small farmers and common quilombolas. São Mateus , State of Espírito Santo. “We have been facing very difficult situation ever since the Space Launch Centre (CLA) was established in the 80´s decade. More than 20 years of struggles. In this period, we have seen more than 20 communities of the descendents of the quilombo pioneers evicted from the lands they have lived on and developed over the centuries. A further 20 communities are threatened with removal at any moment. In spite of all these years of struggle, we do not know now what will happen to these families. We fight to prevent further dislocations of the people because those who were previously evicted were sent to the new “agrovilas”, a pompous name given to the new housing. Life there is very difficult. Here in Canelatiua, where we have lived for centuries, the sea is near and we can catch plenty of fish, the land is good for cultivation so we do not want to move and neither do many of the other communities“ Dorinete Morais, resident in the Canelatiua in Alcântara- State of Maranhão (threatened with eviction due to the planned expansion of the space facility)
Quilombol@, March 2005
Observation Post for Rights and Politics Since 2003, Cohre has been observing the quilombolas struggle to enforce their right to their ancestral lands in the Alcântara region. Based on the principles of the right to housing and residence, the communities and Cohre presented to the United Nation’s Committee of Economic Social and Cultural Rights, and the Committee against Racial Discrimination a formal denunciation against what is happening and also organised a Mission by the UN Special Rapporteur for the Right to Adequate Housing, Mr. Miloon Kothari to the displaced communities in 2004. Cohre also presented an amicus curiae brief to the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights on the violations of human rights and a separate document to the Federal Brazilian Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the Federal Decree that regulates the terms of regularization of the territories. - In April of 2003, the Office of the Brazilian National Rapporteur for Adequate Housing, with support from the Platform for Economic, Social and Cultural Human Rights (DhESC); the UNO program for Voluntary Workers and the State Secretariat for Human Rights, organised a tour of inspection of the case to verify in situ the reported cases of violations of Human Rights in the quilombolas communities. Following the inspection, the experts recommended the Brazilian Government to: - Recognise and repair the damage done to the Rights by concrete measures such as (I) the revocation of the Decree that reduced the area of the allotments assigned to the dislocated populations from 30 hectares to 15 hectares ;(ii) concede recognition of the right to possession (as distinct from legal ownership); restore the powers of the local civic authorities to regulate the actions of the CLA in the region; support the Municipality of Alcântara in the creation and application of a Municipal Master Plan. This MMP would ensure the participation of the quilombolas in decisions on the use of land, determine the establishment of special
zones for protection of ethnic-cultural interests; create development plans incorporating local communities projects thus avoiding the formulation of Ministry project in isolation of the local community interests. The experts also recommended that the actions of the GEI should be more transparent to the concerned communities and that a bulletin should be issued regularly on planned activities. -The Decree by which the GEI1 was established on the 27th of August 2004, did not even mention the existence of quilombos in Alcântara. Following pressure by Cohre, modifications were made and the revised decree issued on the 8th of November of the same year, incorporated participation of the local communities in the definition of government plans and also made inclusion of consideration of the local ethnic and social-cultural peculiarities of the quilombolas an integral part of the strategies for development of the region. The GEI (Grupo Executivo Interministerial – Inter-ministerial Executive Group) consists of the Presidential Civic Affairs Office, Ministries (Science and Technology, Defence, Agrarian Development, Transport, Health, Education, Tourism, Planning, Culture, Environment, Agriculture, Energy and Mines, Cities, Exterior Relations, Labour and Employment, Social Development and Hunger Combat), The Secretariat of Political Coordination, The Special Secretariat for Policies of Promotion of Racial Equality, The Special Secretariat for water use improvement and fisheries, The Special Secretariat for Human Rights, The Brazilian Space Agency, and the Air force Command Structure. The objective is the development of actions for environmental and land ownership regularization, for the support of family and small producers, for Tourism and the validation of local cultures and for the expansion and improvement of the public services of infrastructure, health and education.
Staff Letícia Osório, Sebastian Tedeschi, Emily Walsh, Cíntia Beatriz Muller e Sinara Sandri (8073 DRT/RS) If you have any comments, or wish to subscribe to the mailing list for Quilombol@, please contact : quilombo@cohre.org If you have more information about National Campaign for Promotion of Ownership Regularization of Quilombos Territories or about other programmes and activities of Cohre Americas, please contact cohreamericas@cohre.org
Center on Housing Rights and Evictions Demétrio Ribeiro 990 / 305 Porto Alegre (RS) Cep - 90.010-313 Tel (x) - (51) 3212.1904 This publication has been made possible with the support of :