The initiative brings together training and definition of strategies for resolving specific cases with indigenous lawyers and students to guarantee the protection of the rights of original peoples
By: Kari Guajajara and Robson Delgado Baré
Despite Brazil having a Constitution indisputably based on principles that aim to build a pluri-ethnic and multicultural society through the consolidation, appreciation and promotion of the country’s cultural differences and ethnic and social diversity, the political and legal scenarios, which throughout history have subjected indigenous peoples to persistent challenges, continue to be intensified. Attacks on rights and guarantees not only threaten the cultural and environmental heritage of communities but also put their fundamental rights to territory and life at risk. Given this context, the importance of undertaking strategies that are capable of facing the aforementioned context is evident to us.
In this sense, the legal department of the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (Coiab), together with AmazôniAlerta, has strengthened the continuous qualification of indigenous professionals to maintain specialized assistance with indigenous organizations and peoples through initiatives such as the Amazon Indigenous Rights Clinic.
The main objective of the Clinic is to offer practical training and excellent support for indigenous lawyers who work directly in grassroots organizations of the indigenous movement and for law students. The training space proposed by the Clinic is innovative. This is a long-term, continuous training, with a regular monthly frequency, focused on indigenous law, dealing with a topic that has a shortage of professionals to master it: the defense of indigenous rights.
Among others, members of the Network of Indigenous Lawyers of the Amazon participate in the Clinic as a strategy to guarantee training and technical support in the face of the specific and challenging demands of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon.
Currently, the Coiab Indigenous Rights Clinic is made up of indigenous people from different peoples: Guajajara, Baré, Tukano, Kokama, Apurinã, Macuxi, Wapichana, Manchineri, Yawalapíti, Huni Kuî, Amondawa and Tembé. From states such as: Acre, Amazonas, Maranhão, Mato-Grosso, Pará, Rondônia and Roraima.
“Ensuring a safe and qualified space for indigenous lawyers and law students means enhancing the indigenous collective struggle considering that what we seek at the Clinic is not just qualification, but more importantly, the definition of a joint strategy for resolving specific cases” says Kari Guajajara, Coiab’s legal advisory coordinator.
The Clinic has already had classes with the participation of Lawyer Miguel Godoy, professor of Constitutional Law at the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR) and the University of Brasília (UnB) and Lawyer Melina Fachin, professor of International Human Rights Law at the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR) and director of the Faculty of Law at the same university.
For Lucas Cravo, Lawyer at AmazôniAlerta, in partnership with Coiab, the Amazon Indigenous Rights Clinic represents progress for the legal body of the indigenous movement in the Brazilian Amazon “The Clinic aims to collaborate with the long-term training of young indigenous lawyers who want to use law as an instrument of struggle in defense of indigenous rights. An innovative training initiative because it aims to create a permanent, trustworthy space where indigenous lawyers from the coiab network can refine their technical knowledge by discussing the cases they are working on”, he concludes.
The proposal is clear: to enhance the struggle and tools of forest people so that they can face the challenges imposed on their rights and guarantees. The Amazon Indigenous Rights Clinic thus emerges as a milestone in the institutional strengthening of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon, ensuring that justice also speaks the languages of the forest.
For those interested in participating in the Amazon Indigenous Rights Clinic, the person must send an email to Coiab legal and AmazôniAlerta, reporting their trajectory and informing which organization they are linked to.
Coiab legal email: juridico@coiab.org.br
AmazôniAlerta legal email: juridico@amazonialerta.org