NATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR REGULARIZATION OF QUILOMBO LAND
QUILOMBOL@ www.cohre.org/quilombos
Editorial It is urgent that the different federal bodies and organizations formulate a policy to the so-called areas of national security that is capable of dealing with not just military interests, but also guarantees the rights of the people that live at these sites. The case of the community that has been on the island of Marambaia, on the coast of Rio de Janeiro for more than 120 years, has become emblematic, once the Brazilian Navy systematically interferers in their daily lives and violates the human rights of the people due to the omission of successive federal governments in providing the land titling to this Quilombo territory. In this bulletin, we update the information on the conflict on Marambaia Island and present a brief report on the activities developed by COHRE in the region. We also bring an article on the strategies used by the Navy to make it difficult for the Quilombos to stay on the island, the statement of one of the leaders and information on the legal measures applied to the case.
No.7 september 2005
Marambaia
Military rules violate quilombo rights The community of Quilombos that has been living for more than a century on the island of Marambaia, located on the coast of the municipality of Mangaratiba near the Fluminense capital, is in conflict with the Brazilian Navy. The residents are demanding the right for full use of the land that they have traditionally occupied for housing, work, sustenance and the development of their cultural and spiritual activities. The area has been declared a national security area and is considered property of the Union, falling under the jurisdiction of the Army, Navy and Air Force. The problem is that when the military bases were installed back in 1971, the Quilombo community had already been there since the days of black slavery, as the island was used as an arrival and quarantine point for slaves. Today, the descendents of the slaves living on the island are facing a series of limitations since the question of national security has been adopted by the military as a justification to impose mail inspections and traveling restrictions on the Quilombo residents, their relatives and visitors. The community has denounced the absence of titling that guarantees the security of tenure and the rules for use of the land, which has resulted in situations where families have been held hostage by military authorities that impose restrictions on their civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. The island has nine beaches and a small human settlement in its center. The population of about 340 people lives in 79 houses, divided between the “upper side” and the “lower side” with respect to the historical differences in the organization of work, parentage and religion. The challenge in the region is in harmonizing the very different forms of use for the land. The historical occupation of the black communities has created paths, trails, archeological sites, cemeteries and residential areas. Now the military and its allocation as an area of national security has resulted in the construction of streets, garbage collection, heliports, shooting ranges, landing strips and maneuvering areas. Besides this, a private enterprise for cultivating marine algae for the production of cosmetics and food products, called 7 Ondas Biomar, has been on the island since 2004. Of the 70 employees that work for the company, just three are from the Quilombo community. The company has
caused environmental damage such as the reduction of fish, crabs and shrimp. The residents cannot fish with nets in the CADIM (Center for Military Instruction) area, but the company is authorized to use equipment, which kills turtles and small fish. Besides imposing constrictions on the residents as a means of impeding the political mobilization of the population, the Navy’s prohibitions against the construction, expansion or reformation of housing units, corroborated by judicial decision, are forcing the phenomenon of cohabitation- more than one family living in the same house. Young couples cannot have their own houses and housing units that have been demolished, as the result of reintegration of possession actions or deterioration due to poor building conditions, cannot be reconstructed. With the installation of the CADIM, in 1971, many families were forcefully displaced and others received payment to move to the continent. The Navy held a public contest and those members of the community that passed were sent to live in Navy houses located on the island. However, when they retired, they were forced to leave the residencies. Until 1995, some authorizations to construct or reform houses had been conceded. In 1997 the Navy filed some repossession actions against individual residents, claiming that the families had invaded the areas and that the right to housing was up to the whims of the Navy. Many citations establishing dates for contesting the decisions arrived in the hands of the families after their deadlines had already passed, which prevented them from appealing against the Navy’s false arguments. Between 1997 and 1999, there were several evictions and demolitions of houses as the result of judicial sentences in favor of the Navy on repossession suits. As the result of a public civil action in 2002 from the Federal Public Minister, the Federal Justice ruled in favor of the suspension of the repossession against those who had not yet been evicted from the area and ruled that the FCP should begin the process of recognizing the Quilombo territory, which as to this date, has not been concluded (see Observatory).