Brazil's top court boosts indigenous rights in landmark ruling

Beefalo@midwest.social to World News@beehaw.org – 52 points – Brazil's top court boosts indigenous rights in landmark ruling
bbc.com

"Brazil's Supreme Court has rejected efforts to restrict native peoples' rights to reservations on their ancestral lands.

Six of the 11 justices on Thursday ruled in favour of restoring territory to the Xokleng people, from which they were evicted.

The ruling sets a precedent for hundreds of indigenous land claims and is expected to have widespread consequences for indigenous land rights.

The decision was met with celebrations and tears of joy by members of indigenous groups from across the country. " - BBC

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Brazil's Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling rejecting efforts to restrict indigenous land rights. The case involved the Xokleng people who were forcibly removed from their ancestral lands in southern Brazil in the late 19th century. While the Xokleng were granted rights to a 15,000 hectare reservation in 1996, they argued this land represented only a fraction of their original territory. The ruling sets a precedent against the "marco temporal" argument that indigenous groups must prove occupancy of disputed lands as of 1988. This decision will impact hundreds of similar land disputes and represents a boost for indigenous rights amid attacks on these rights during Jair Bolsonaro's presidency. Anthropologists have documented the brutal tactics used to drive the Xokleng from their lands, including mercenaries collecting the ears of those killed.

The Supreme Court victory was met with celebrations and tears of joy from indigenous groups nationwide.

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🤖 I'm a bot that provides automatic summaries for articles: ::: spoiler Click here to see the summary Brazil's Supreme Court has rejected efforts to restrict native peoples' rights to reservations on their ancestral lands.

The Xokleng are an indigenous group numbering some 2,300 people living in the highlands of Santa Catarina state in southern Brazil.

Anthropologists have documented how mercenaries hired to drive the Xokleng from their ancestral lands would collect the ears of those they killed to claim their reward.

This particular case goes back to 2009 when the Xokleng were evicted by Santa Catarina's Environmental Institute from lands which form part of a nature reserve.

At the appeal in 2013, the Santa Catarina state authorities used a legal argument known as "marco temporal" (Portuguese for timeframe) to defend the eviction of the Xokleng.

The Xokleng's supporters said the decision ignored the fact that they had been forcibly removed decades earlier to make way for mostly German settlers.

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