The accused invaded the Uru Eu Wau Wau Indigenous Land and fired at the team at the beginning of July.
Yesterday (18), the Federal Police (PF) carried out arrest and search and seizure warrants in an investigation into an attempted murder that took place on the 3rd of July inside the Uru Eu Wau Wau Indigenous Land in Rondônia state.
Armed men caught invading the territory in the municipality of Seringueiras responded with gunfire to the interpellation of Fabrício Amorim, coordinator of the Ethno-Environmental Protection Front (FPE) of the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai), and two Jupaú* indigenous collaborators. The men had invaded the indigenous land to hunt.
No one was hit and the PF had been conducting a confidential investigation until yesterday (18), when the two suspects were arrested. One of the men arrested is Edmilson Vitor da Silva, known as Buguelo. He is the husband of Seringueiras city councillor Solange Emílio (PSD*). The other is the couple's eldest son.
They are being investigated for the offences of attempted murder and illegal possession of a firearm. The Federal Court issued temporary arrest warrants for 30 days, which can be extended. The Uru Eu Wau Wau Indigenous Land is home to six peoples who have already been contacted and four groups who live in isolation and are monitored by the FPE.
Opi sent a letter to various authorities at the end of June asking that the presence of the National Guard be guaranteed in Indigenous Lands where isolated groups live in Mato Grosso, Pará and Maranhão. In the case of Rondônia, there is a clear need to maintain the National Guard and also to reinforce the teams so that the Seringueiras region, where the most recent incident took place, also has National Guard agents.
In addition to reinforcing public security, the action shows the immediate need to regulate police powers for FUNAI employees who work in the Ethno-Environmental Protection Bases within indigenous territories. In March this year the president of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Minister Luís Roberto Barroso, ruled in Claim of Non Compliance with Fundamental Precept (ADPF) 709 that their police powers must be regulated by September, when the 180 days STF deadline will come to an end.
The attack by the invaders has once again put federal and indigenous servants at risk in their own rightful land, and highlights the limitation of their inspection activities and the vulnerability in which they find themselves without this power.
* Jupaú – Indigenous people from Rondônia state, also known as Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau * PSD – Sdocial Democratic Party
