CLIHHR, PPGD/UFRGS, ODSDH/UFAM, and IHRP provide joint submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples addressing Indigenous land and territorial rights violations tied to Canadian mining in Brazil

Photo of an Indigenous Mura Community in Amazonas, Brazil. Photo Courtesy of Jeffrey Ma

Last week, the Cardozo Law Institute in Holocaust and Human Rights (CLIHHR), the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul Graduate Program in Law (PPGD/UFRGS), the Observatory of Socio-Environmental Law and Human Rights in the Amazon of the Federal University of Amazonas (ODSDH/UFAM) and the University of Toronto Jackman Law’s International Human Rights Program (IHRP), provided the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples a joint submission highlighting the Brazilian government’s failure to safeguard Indigenous peoples’ land and territorial rights as they confront the impacts of Canadian mining in the Amazon. 

The joint submission addresses Indigenous people's rights to their land and territory, particularly in relation to processes of land demarcation, where the state has prioritized transnational corporate interests over the interests of Indigenous communities and the protection of the land and environments on which they depend. Drawing on the case of the Mura communities resisting Brazil Potash, a Canadian mining company extracting sylvanite from their land, the submission documents persisting concerns related to excessive delays in Indigenous land demarcation processes, a lack of access to justice for Indigenous communities, and retaliation faced by Indigenous leaders opposing extractive projects in Brazil.  

The submission calls attention to the importance of timely land demarcation to protecting Indigenous rights to self-determination, land, and territory, and ultimately to their survival. Pervasive delays in the processes of land demarcation – that can last decades – have left communities like the Mura vulnerable to threats, coercion, and pressure by extractive transnational companies that undermine their ability to exercise their collective rights to land and self-determination. As detailed in the submission, the Mura community allege being subject to “divide and rule” tactics by the Canadian company Brazil Potash, in violation to their right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent. In line with its obligations under international law and its own constitutional laws, Brazil must uphold Indigenous people’s rights to land and prevent any such violations. 

This joint submission responds to the UN Special Rapporteur’s call for input to inform a thematic report on the demarcation, registration, and titling of Indigenous Peoples’ lands, territories, and resources. The Special Rapporteur’s report will be presented to the UN General Assembly.  

This collaborative effort forms part of ongoing support to the Mura communities of Lago Soares and Urucurituba, which are amongst the most affected communities by Brazil Potash’s mining project. This includes a recently published report detailing the human rights concerns and environmental risks posed by Brazil Potash’s operations. The report is based on interviews conducted by clinic students with Mura community members in Brazil and other stakeholders. 

Read the full submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples here.

Read the report, Resistance: Mura Struggle Against Canadian Potash Mining in Brazil’s Amazon, here.