Case History: Clodieldo de Souza

On 14 June 2016, Guarani-Kaiowá leader and human rights defender Clodieldo de Souza was shot dead during a raid conducted by paramilitary forces in the indigenous settlement Tey Jussu, in the region of Caarapó (Mato Grosso do Sul, MS). The attackers are presumably acting on orders from local landowners who perceive indigenous communities as obstacles to large scale farming in MS, despite these communities' constitutional right to have their territories demarcated. In addition to the murder of Clodieldo Souza, 10 other Guarani-Kaiowá people suffered gunshot wounds during the attack on their homes.

In 2016 alone, 27 human rights defenders have been murdered in Brazil. Moreover, since August 2015, more than 20 attacks of paramilitary groups against Guarani-Kaiowá settlements have been registered in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul by the Indigenous Missionary Council (Conselho Indigenista Missionário, CIMI).

According to a report published by CIMI, Mato Grosso do Sul is the most violent state against indigenous people. In 2014 alone, 29% of murders of native people took place in MS, with the Guarani-Kaiowá people particularly affected. Many such land conflicts are rooted in soya bean and maize agribusiness projects, which seek to encroach into indigenous territory, according to the International Service for Human Rights and Terra de Direitos. However, if all the ancestral lands claimed by indigenous peoples in MS were legally attributed to them, they would barely take up 2% of the State's surface, which has the 2nd largest indigenous population of Brazil.

Although the case of Mato Grosso do Sul is particularly dire, there is a clear pattern of abuse and violence against indigenous human rights defenders across Brazil. According to data from Brazil's Human Rights Secretariat, there are currently 197 people registered with the National Human Rights Defenders Protection Programme. Of these, 37% relate to land rights defence, 20% are indigenous people and 13% relate to environmental activism.

Furthermore, Brazil continues to push forward mega development projects without adhering to pertinent human rights standards such as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples or ILO 169 Convention on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, which it has respectively endorsed and subscribed to. Simultaneously, "the Brazilian State has abandoned or cut back land democratisation policies and programmes used to guarantee territories for traditional peoples, manage natural resources and promote social policies".

Front Line Defenders is closely following the case of other threatened indigenous leaders in Brazil, most recently Dr. Tonico Benites, Cacique Babau (also known as Rosivaldo Ferreira da Silva) and Mr. Paulino Terena. These defenders have endured death threats, assassination attempts, judicial harassment, arbitrary arrests and arbitrary detentions as a direct consequence of their work to protect the human rights of their communities.

Front Line Defenders strongly condemns the killing of Clodieldo de Souza on 14 June 2016 as well as the systematic persecution, harassment and killing of indigenous human rights defenders. Front Line Defenders calls upon the government of Brazil to bring to justice those responsible for the murder of Clodieldo Souza as well as that of every indigenous human rights defender, ensuring that those who continue their struggle are able to do so without fear of retaliation or reprisals.