Case History: Luiz Henrique Eloy Amado

Human rights lawyers defending an indigenous council in Mato Grosso do Sul are facing threats and harassment following accusations that the council "antagonised" the conflict between indigenous peoples and landowners.

Messrs Rogério Batalha Rocha and Luiz Henrique Eloy Amado have been suffering constant harassment since an investigation was opened against Conselho Indigenista Missionário - CIMI (Indigenous Missionary Council) on 24 September 2015 for allegedly antagonising the conflict between landowners and indigenous peoples in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. On 8 October 2015, Luiz Enrique Eloy Amado will submit the case for his defence against a possible revocation of his license to practice law.

Luiz Eloy Henrique Amado is a human rights lawyer and a member of the Terena indigenous people. He has dedicated his entire career as a lawyer to the defence of the rights of indigenous peoples in Brazil, particularly the Terena, the Guarani-Kaiowá, the Kadiwéu and the Kinikinau tribes. Rogério Batalha is a member of the Coletivo Terra Vermelha (Red Earth Collective), which is a civil society organisation in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul that supports the struggle of indigenous peoples in the fight for their ancestral lands and in the preservation of their culture and their language. He was also a legal advisor for CIMI for over 10 years. Both of them have stood up against the interests of landowners and agribusiness in the defence of the Guarani-Kaiowás and other tribes' rights to their ancestral lands and against the campaign of criminalisation the indigenous peoples have been subjected to. Both human rights defenders are supporters of and collaborate with the CIMI.

Luiz Henrique Eloy Amado is facing a possible revocation of his licence to practice law due to a complaint filed against him by landowners and farmers from Mato Grasso do Sul claiming that he should not be involved in the legal battle for the demarcation of indigenous lands since he is also a member of the indigenous community. They further claim that he has been encouraging indigenous communities to occupy the lands in dispute. The human rights lawyer has until today, 8 October 2015, to present the written case for defence to the Brazilian Bar Association (Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil - OAB).

Human rights defender Rogério Batalha Rocha was the victim of an unsuccessful arrest attempt after a parliamentary session on 24 September 2015, at which he had been protesting. At the conclusion of the session, a parliamentarian, Mara Caseiro, who is known for her support of the landowners and was behind the establishment of a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (Comissão Parlamentar de Inquérito - CPI) against CIMI at that particular session, ordered that the human rights defender be arrested. Rogério Batalha Rocha was approached by the security guards of the Legislative Assembly who violently attempted to arrest him, breaking his eye-glasses in the process. However, as no reason was given to justify his detention, other parliamentarians intervened on his behalf and the human rights defender avoided arrest. The CPI against CIMI will investigate the alleged financing and incitement of the occupation of the disputed lands by indigenous communities.

This is the second time Luiz Henrique Eloy Amado has faced a possible revocation of his licence. Farmers have tried to revoke his licence before in retaliation to a legal suit filed by the human rights lawyer in December 2013 to stop an auction aimed at raising money to support the farmers in the land dispute. The auction was called Leilão da Resistência and it was aimed at hiring a private security company to evict the indigenous community from the areas in dispute. Luiz Henrique Eloy Amado was not able to stop the auction, but the law suit successfully froze the money

The Guarani-Kaiowá people have been fighting a ten-year legal battle to have their ancestral lands recognised as such by the supreme court. Though they got this recognition in 2005, an injunction lodged by landowners paralysed the final decision. The community recently took the decision to occupy the lands in dispute, and the situation is becoming extremely tense. On 29 August 2015, the indigenous leader Semião Fernandes Vilhalva was killed. There has been no effective investigation to date, a fact compounded by the opening of an investigation against the CIMI.

Front Line Defenders expresses its concern at the harassment suffered by human rights lawyers working in the promotion of the rights of indigenous peoples in Brazil. Further concern is expressed at the escalating violence and the criminalisation of indigenous peoples in Brazil in relation to their legitimate struggle to have their ancestral lands recognised and demarcated.