Yahoo News 20 Mar 09;
LONDON (AFP) – Campaigners fighting for the land rights of the Amazon rainforest's indigenous groups celebrated Friday their victory in Brazil's Supreme Court, saying it came as a "tremendous relief".
The court upheld the integrity of a vast native reserve, paving the way for the eviction of white farmers who have resisted leaving, in a 30-year dispute over the rights of native groups to lands in Brazil.
In a 10-1 vote Thursday, the tribunal's judges reaffirmed the borders of the Raposa Serra do Sol reserve and ordered the rice farmers' expulsion.
London-based Survival International, which has campaigned for more than twenty years for the reserve, said the ruling was a blow to state politicians who backed the rice farmers, and the Brazilian military.
"This ruling will come as a tremendous relief not only to the 20,000 Indians who live in Raposa, but to the hundreds of thousands of others across the country," said Fiona Watson, Survival's campaigns coordinator, who has visited the reserve several times.
"At the heart of the case was a very simple principle -- should Indians who have lived on the same land since time immemorial be able to continue living there peacefully, or should the farmers and landowners who are so powerful in South America be able to push them off in the name of development?
"Thankfully the court has come down decisively on the side of the Indians, and also rejected the army's shameful propaganda that Indian reservations somehow represent a threat to the country's sovereignty."
Christine Halvorson, programme director of the Rainforest Foundation, a British charity founded by musician Sting, told AFP the verdict marked a "tremendous victory" for the people of Raposa along with indigenous people across Brazil.
But, she added: "The decision also brings with it 19 conditions that will have an impact on the future demarcation of indigenous areas and indigenous control and management of their land.
"Those may spell a step backwards in terms of indigenous rights. There is a danger flag because of those conditions, but overall it's wonderful news."
