Wave of indignation in Brazil for the death of journalist and expert, defenders of the environment

International NGOs and friends showed their outrage at the murder of the British journalist Dom Phillips and the expert Bruno Pereira while working in defense of indigenous people and the environment in the Brazilian Amazon, where the investigation of the case continues this Thursday.

After ten days of intense search, the investigation into the disappearance of both turned around on Wednesday with the confession of one of the two detainees, Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, who led the police to the place where he said he had buried the bodies, near from the city of Atalaia do Norte, in the remote region of Valle del Javarí, bordering Peru.

LOOK: Personal belongings of missing British reporter and expert found in Brazil

The Federal Police (PF) found human remains there, which this Thursday were sent to brasilia for your identification.

The motive for the crime, as well as the circumstances of the death apparently with a firearm, have yet to be determined.

Phillips, 57, was working on a book about preserving the Amazon. Pereira acted as his guide in this region where 26 indigenous peoples live, many of them isolated, and where drug traffickers, miners, fishermen and illegal loggers operate.

The expert from the Brazilian government agency for indigenous affairs (Funai) had received threats from these groups for his work in defense of protected lands.

The Amazon is “at the mercy of the law of the strongest, under which brutality is commonplace,” WWF deplored on Thursday, showing its “indignation” at the state’s failure to protect the “peoples of the jungle and their defenders.”

Greenpeace assured that in the last three years Brazil It has been configured as the land of the law of “anything goes”, fueled by the “actions and omissions” of the far-right government Jair Bolsonaro, in power since 2019.

“It is worth the invasion and appropriation of land; worth the proliferation of mining; Illegal logging is worth it, any territorial conflict is worth it… and it is worth killing to make sure that none of these criminal activities are prevented,” added the NGO.

– A “political crime” –

The disappearance of Phillips, a reporter for The Guardian, Y Pereira fueled criticism against the Bolsonaro government, accused of encouraging invasions of indigenous lands with his speech in favor of the economic exploitation of the jungle.

The president caused outrage these days with several statements, when he said that the incursion of Philips Y Pereira it was an “adventure not recommended” and that the British reporter was “frowned upon” in the Amazon region for his reporting on illegal activities.

The Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Javarí Valley (Univaja), whose members actively participated in the searches, described the murder as a “political crime”, since both were “defenders from the human rights”. “We know that they are part of a larger group,” they added.

The Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji) stated that in recent years the work of journalists and environmentalists has served to show the “records” of environmental crimes in the Amazon, as well as the murders of activists and cuts in environmental control agencies.

In 2020, 20 murders of activists linked to the environmental cause were committed in Brazilaccording to Greenpeace.

“In parallel, the president and his allies became protagonists of the attacks on the press,” said la Abraji.

Speaking to AFP in London, Jonathan Watts, Phillips’ colleague at The Guardian, said he hoped these “monstrous” killings would encourage, not deter, the media from continuing their work on environmental crimes.

– “With a broken heart”

The head of the PF in the state of Amazonas (northwest), Eduardo Alexandre Fontes, assured on Wednesday that it is very likely that the mortal remains found in the place indicated by Oliveira “correspond to Philips Y Pereira”, although to confirm it they must submit them to identification tests.

The remains will arrive in Brasilia on Thursday to be identified by the Institute of Criminalistics. The results will come out next week, according to local press.

Phillips’ family in the United Kingdom said they are “heartbroken” after learning of his and Pereira’s deaths and thanked the search participants, “especially the indigenous people.”

The investigation continues to determine the exact role played by the two imprisoned brothers and their eventual accomplices.

The press affirms that there would be three other suspects, among them a possible perpetrator of the crime, information not officially confirmed by the PF.

Source: Elcomercio

Ronald Payne

I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.