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).
Quilombol@, september 2005
Community
Quilombo residents demand rights in Marambaia Dionato de Lima Eugenio, “Seu Naná”, is 63 years old and lives on Sitio Beach, in Marambaia. He tells us about the beginning of the island’s occupation and the challenges of the Quilombo community organization. “I don’t know much about the time of Mr. Breves (an early trader who used the island as a way-point for slaves), but I do know that the area was a farm where the slaves were brought to be fattened up and prepared for sale to other farms. I know that Breves got sick and died and the slaves that were found on the island at that time were given the rights to the land by him, before he died. Verbally, it was passed along that each one of them would be the owner of one
the places on the beach. These places would go to each one of the slaves, but everything was done verbally, nothing was in writing. These slaves lived by hunting and fishing, and planted manioc and sugar cane. In the 1940’s, the School of Fishing came and it was very good because it really improved the fishing and provided jobs for many people. There, the people came out of that place as professionals. In the 1970’s, the Center for Military Instruction on Marambaia Island (CADIM) was installed, where the Navy recruits are trained and learn to shoot. They set up a firing line and practice shooting. You can hear them shooting from the houses. Some of them are training for war.
Living and fishing in a place where there is shooting is hard because (the population) isn’t warned. If they come during a moment when the fishermen don’t know they’re there, then there could be a serious problem. The ARQIMAR association began meeting in 2002. We prepared everything, we completed the statute quickly. The whole community got together to approve the statutes and, in 2003, the association was then complete. The association belongs to all the people. There are still some who have doubts about participating, but the majority is doing their part. The pressure from the Navy on the association has always been there, but today they are now supporting the association.”
Observatory of Policies and Rights
Legal Measures Adopted in the Marambaia Land Conflict - To suspend the repossession actions called for by the Navy against the Quilombo community, the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) filed a Public Civil Action against the Federal Union and the Palmares Cultural Foundation (FCP) in February 2002. This Public Civil Action required the FCP to begin the administrative process of identifying the Quilombo communities and required the Union to tolerate the existence of the members of this community on the island, without taking legal steps to evict them. Besides that, they requested permission for the return of those who had already been evicted as the result of legal actions taken by the Navy; tolerance for the community to maintain its style of life, not preventing them from clearing new farmland, from adding on to existing houses nor from constructing new ones in the areas they already occupy. The MPF obtained a favorable preliminary decision from the Federal Justice in April 2002, suspending the ongoing repossession actions and getting the FCP to begin the process of recognizing the Quilombo communities. The decision did not authorize the return of the evicted families or the possibility of construction or reform. - In 2002, as the result of a decision by the Federal Justice, the FCP, which was the organization responsible for the process of land regularization and titling for the Quilombo communities at the time, signed an agreement with the NGO Koinonia for the elaboration of a grant for the recognition of the Quilombo territory. - In 2003, the Marambaia Island Quilombo Association (ARQIMAR) was legally registered as a civil association for the defense of land titling in benefit of the community. - In May of 2003, the Marambaia Historical Memorial was created. The Federal Public Ministry and the Attorney General of the Republic identified the principal rights violations suffered by the residents. In retaliation, the Navy opened an inquiry against residents Sonia Machado, Vania Guerra, Joeci Gomes, Balbino Firmo, Otacilio Pedro Inocencio and Dionato de Lima Eugenio. Their depositions were taken in the intelligence area of the military base on the island by a uniformed interrogator and were not registered in official documents. - Federal Decree 4.887/2003 determined the INCRA as the organization responsible for the titling process. In November 2004, the organization began studies for the recognition of the area, and Koinonia identified measurements and property lines. The Palmares Cultural Foundation expedited the Certificate of Recognition for the Quilombo community on Marambaia. - In the beginning of 2005, the Navy prohibited the MDA/INCRA from entering Marambaia Island and prevented them from continuing the job of identifying the Quilombo community. With the objective of resolving the conflict, the MDA/ INCRA formed a workgroup (Service Order no. 3 from 13/5/2005) to talk with the Minister of Defense and the Brazilian Navy, aiming to chart a map of the territory being used by the Quilombo. However, this map had already been drawn by the FCP in agreement with the NGO Koinonia, and according to the procedures prescribed in Decree 4.887/2003 it should be published in the Official Records of the Union as a part of the Technical Report from the MDA/INCRA, and also contain cartographic, territorial, agricultural, ecological, geographical, socio-economical and historical information, blueprints and descriptions of the perimeter of the Quilombo territory, a registry of families and a research on former property registers. It must also appear a conclusive report on the official proposal to the perimeter of the Quilombo territory. Only after the publication of this report should the Navy and the other interested organizations be notified in order to evaluate the contents of the document.
Quilombol@, september 2005
Action
A course on land regularization in Marambaia
Staff
Participants in the qualification course
COHRE and the Marambaia Island Quilombo Association (ARQIMAR) organized a technical course on human rights and housing rights for the Quilombos in the region. The activities, held on the 2nd and 3rd of September, had to be held in Itacuruçá since the Navy did not respond to the successive requests for authorization to allow the team of experts to enter the island. Even with the problem of distance and transportation, 17 representatives from Marambaia Island were able to participate in the meeting to learn about the titling process for the land they occupy and how to elaborate strategies of action. Besides examining the housing conditions in the Quilombo communities, the meeting focused on the national and international legal instruments for the protection of the right to land and housing and the existing procedures in the Brazilian Legislation that can be applied to the land regularization process. The course also emphasized the exchange of information and the participation of Quilombos and urban movements in the fight for housing as a way to increase social networks and to share experiences in dealing with the processes of land regularization. During the course of two
days, the steps and plans of action for the advancement of the titling of the Quilombo lands were analyzed. The mayor of the Municipality of Mangaratiba, Aarão de Moura Brito Neto, participated in the discussion on the master plan and the recognition of the Quilombo lands. Brito promised to organize a participatory process for the discussion of the master plan of the city, which has around 23,000 inhabitants. According to the City Statute, a federal law on urban development, cities with more than 20,000 inhabitants must reformulate or revise their master plans by October of 2006. The objective of the revision is to install instruments that guarantee the fulfillment of the social functions of the city and property, and to identify the low-income neighborhoods for land regularization purposes and for the provision of essential services. The activity was participated in by representatives from the NGO Koinonia, the Polis Institute, the National Rappourteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, the National Confederation of Residents’ Associations/National Forum on Urban Reform.
Sacopã
Quilombo in Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas
The Sacopã Quilombo covers roughly 18,000 square meters in the region of Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, an upper-class zone in the city of Rio de Janeiro where one square meter is worth almost 10,000 reais. The community has more than 20 people and the members of the Sacopã Quilombo have been in possession of the area for more than 100 years. “When we arrived here, there were only goats”, says Jose Luiz “Luiz Sacopã” Pinto Junior. With the removal of the favelas from the region by the Rio de Janeiro City Hall 60 years ago, the patriarch of the Sacopã families, Manoel Pinto Junior, filed an usucaptio action that had lasted for 30 years as of 2005. “The ones that turned their backs and left had buildings constructed (on their lands)”, said Luiz Sacopã. The action was granted at first but was later contested by representatives from the high-rise condominiums around the Sacopã Quilombo, who achieved a favorable decision on April 5th, 2005. The Sacopã Quilombo residents appealed for a second decision and are awaiting a visit from minister Matilda Ribeiro (SEPPIR), scheduled for September 22nd.
Letícia Osório, Sebastian Tedeschi, Emily Walsh, Cíntia Beatriz Muller e Sinara Sandri 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 / 202 Porto Alegre (RS) Cep - 90.010-313 Tel (x) - (51) 3212.1904 This publication has been made possible with the support of :