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HAXIMU MASSACRE

 
 

... General | Conflicts | Intercultural Education | Environment | Yanomami Health

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


MASSACRE DE HAXIMU

 

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TRF annuls the verdict of the Haximu massacre trial !!

This section of Yanomami Online is especially dedicated to the Haximu Massacre of June 1993, when 16 Yanomami were barbarously murdered during two attacks by gold prospectors. Five men, three women, three young girls, four children and a baby were killed.

Of the 22 garimpeiros accused of taking part in the massacre only five were sentenced by federal trial judge Itagiba Catta Preta Neto on 19th December 1996. The five were sentenced to terms of 19 or 20 years imprisonment for the crime of genocide, and to 6 months for damages. They were acquitted of the crime of hiding the bodies for lack of proof. But why return to this sad subject, seven years later ? Because the goldminers appealed against the verdict of the federal judge in Boa Vista, on the grounds that crimes of murder should be tried by a jury, and this argument, lamentably, was accepted by the 1st Regional TFR (Federal Regional Tribunal) which then nullified the first sentence. The annulment could lead to a new trial, this time before a jury in Roraima.

Read the details of this absurd situation in this special edition. The condemned goldminers' appeal was upheld by the Third Court of the 1st Regional TFR but the federal public prosecutors who brought the original case to court have appealed against this decision to the STJ (Supreme Tribunal of Justice) in Brasilia. They have asked the STJ to recognise the competence of the federal judge in Boa Vista in trying the case. "The Federal Public Prosecutors' Office understands that as this is a case for federal justice, the judge is competent to try it, not a jury.

In a case of genocide, the legal object that is under protection is not an individual life, but the ethnic group". If the STJ were to confirm the decision of the 1st Regional TFR, besides being a judicial error it would also mean guaranteed impunity, because in Boa Vista, the Roraima capital, the members of the jury generally hold opinions hostile to the indians and in favour of their aggressors. The appeal will be heard at the beginning of August in the 5th court of the STJ. There are two possibilities for an immediate solution to the case: either the STJ cancels the TRF decision to annul the first trial, or it could decide for a new hearing of the murderers' appeal to the TFR.

It would be a very retrogade step if the indians' killers were to obtain the annulment of their trial and their sentences. Brazilian justice must not commit this injustice.  

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Genocide - At the beginning, rumours and lies

Rumours about the massacre began to circulate at the beginning of August 1993. The exact date of the crime was diificult to define due to the distances and the difficulty of access between the Haximu region and Toototobi, the nearest CCPY post. The first concrete news was a note from a nun who worked in the Xitei (pronounced Xideia) region, dated 17th August 1993, which reached the Demini post. In the note, Sister Alessia said that the tuxaua (chief) Antonio had spoken of the death of seven children, five women and two men, and the destruction of a maloca (communal hut). The nun quoted Antonio as saying that the village destroyed had very little contact with "whites". From Xitei to Haximu it is two days walk. Sister Alessia also requested the presence of FUNAI to investigate the case.

On 18th August 1993 the Haximu massacre became headline news in the papers. Press coverage began and journalists raced to get to Roraima, amongst growing confusion about the real dimension of the massacre. Most of the newspaper and TV coverage was based on unconfirmed information, especially about the number of victims. The scene of the crime had not even been properly investigated. FUNAI officials, under pressure from the media and the government, made irresponsible and completely untrue statements, based on rumours and misinterpretations due to the lack of Yanomami speakers.

Some of the Brazilian and international media reported that over 100 Yanomami had been killed. Davi Kopenawa and several other Yanomami went to the crime scene in a helicopter, together with the then Justice Minister, Mauricio Correa, Attorney General Aristides Junqueira, FUNAI president, Claudio Romero and other officials of the agency, and jornalists. They found two burnt malocas (communal huts), the remains of a fire - where the bodies had been cremated - the body of a women riddled with bullets, her head split by blows from a machete. Later they found the exact place of the massacre, with bits of human teeth and remains of bones and ashes. These remains indicated that the survivors had left the place in a hurry. On 25th August 1993 CCPY reported that 69 survivors had arrived at the Toototobi post. Among them were two girls aged six and seven years and two men of 18 and 20 with gunshot wounds.

 

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The Survivors' Story

The survivors said that the garimpeiros (goldminers) had attacked first in mid-June, when four adult men were shot dead. Some time later, they said they had revenged these deaths, killing two goldminers. About the 22nd or 23rd July, at around midday the garimpeiros had surrounded, on three sides, a temporary indian shelter near an abandoned vegetable garden.

A group of Yanomami who were camped there had gone to look for pupunha fruit in the lower reach of the Hwaximeu river. The ones who remained behind were surprised by the garimpeiros who were armed with machetes, rifles and revolvers. There was only one adult man with the group of women and children. The adults were shot dead and mutilated with knives. The children were knifed to death with blows to the head and chest. An old woman was kicked to death. The survivors said they had cremated 11 bodies, and the body of one woman had not been cremated because she had no relative there to weep for her death. Cremating the dead is a Yanomami habit. The indians identified the Brazilian garimpeiros by their nicknames: Boca Rica, Chico Ceara, Parana, Piaui, Cantina, Joao Neto, Goiano, Gaucho, Elias, Jabuti, Rocha, Baiano, Maneu, Chaparrai, Picao, Uiuiui, Joao Cururu, Zeca, Geni, Paulista and Paulo.


.......................................Survivors of the Haximu Massacre Photo by Carlo Zacquini
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According to the inquiry led by Federal Police Inspector Raimundo Cotrim, which provided the basis for the prosecution case brought by the Public Prosecutors' Office, the crime of genocide took place in two stages: first when four men were shot dead in the forest some way from the village, one of whose bodies was never found; second, some weeks later, twelve people were shot dead and mutilated with knives an adult man, two old women, a woman, three adolescents, four children and a baby. This second group was outside the village in a temporary shelter, which indicated they were hiding in the forest, fearing a new attack from the goldminers, after the first four deaths.

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Names of the judges and
prosecutors responsible for
the case of the Haximu Massacre

  • Boa Vista Lower Court federal judge: Itagiba Catta Preta Neto;

  • Public prosecutors, who presented the charges and the appeal to the STJ: Luciano Mariz Maia, Franklin Rodrigues da Costa and Carlos Frederico Santos;

  • Judges of the Third Court of the 1st Regional TRF, who annulled the Boa Vista sentences: Olindo Menezes, Eustaquio Silveira, Candido Ribeiro and Antonio Ezequiel;

  • President of the 1st Regional TRF: Fernando da Costa Tourinho Neto;

  • Judges of the Fifth Court of the STJ, who will hear the prosecutors' appeal: Jorge Tadeo Flaquer Scartezzini, Jose Arnaldo da Fonseca, Gilson Langaro Dipp, Edson de Carvalho Vidigal, Felix Fischer.

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Names of the goldminers who were found guilty and their sentences:

  • Pedro Emiliano Garcia, known as "Pedro Prancheta" 20 years imprisonment for the crime of genocide, and 6 months detention for criminal damages;

  • Eliezio Monteiro Neri, known as Eliezer, 19 years 6 months imprisonment for the crime of genocide and 6 months detention for criminal damages;

  • Francisco Alves Rodrigues, known as "Chico Ceara", 19 years 6 months imprisonment for the crime of genocide, and 6 months detention for criminal damages;

  • Joao Pereira de Morais, known as "Joao Neto", 19 years 6 months imprisonment for the crime of genocide, and 6 months detention for criminal damages;

  • Juvenal Silva, known as "Curupira", 19 years 6 months imprisonment for the crime of genocide, and 6 months detention for criminal damages;

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A letter sent by Yanomami teachers and microscopists, who were on a Portuguese course in Boa Vista, to the judges of the Fifth Court of the STJ, on 10th July 2000.

"We Yanomami do not want these men, we cannot let them be released from prison. We Yanomami still remember these men. Genocide! This is why we are sending this letter. Look, you cannot let these men out of prison, it is better to leave them in prison. Now, we Yanomami know what has happened, that is why we are sending you this letter. We are Yanomami microscopists. We are Yanomami teachers. Receive our letter. If these men continue in prison, we Yanomami will find that just. We thank you very much for your comprehension."

Joseca Yanomami - microscopist
Geraldo Yanomami - microscopist
Joãozinho Yanomami - teacher
Kení Yanomami - teacher
Alípío Yanomami - teacher
Turío Yanomami - teacher
Hugo Yanomami - teacher
Dárío Yanomami - teacher
Lourenço Yanomami - teacher
Sanimão Yanomami - teacher

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Statements

Claudia Andujar, founder and coordinator of CCPY: "The only explanation for the Third Court of the 1st Regional TFR accepting the goldminers' appeal is that they want to legitimize a continual invasion, as long as there is gold in the riverbeds of Yanomami land and indians in the path of the intruders. I believe there is no greater cowardice on the part of the TFR than to accept the goldminers' appeal and deliver the Yanomami into the hands of their murderers. If the annulment of the trial were to be confirmed by the STJ, the 21st century will begin as a new century of barbarous crimes against the indians."

Carlo Zacquini, founder and director of the CCPY: "In reality the Yanomami do not understand the questioning of the trial of those sentenced for the Haximu massacre. They were very shocked when the crime happened and will carry this trauma for many generations. They are extremely distrustful of whites.They thought that women and children would be spared by the whites. I am perplexed and sad today, in the year 2000, with the annulment of the trial, because the testimonies and the inquiry were very well founded."

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Judge Scartezzini, of the 5th court of the STJ returns from medical leave on 10/09/2000

The decision on the Haximu massacre could be taken any day after 10th September when Judge Jorge Flaquer Scartezzini of the 5th court of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, who is responsible for the case, returns. He will have the final word on the public prosecutors' special appeal and decide whether the STJ should confirm or reject the 1st Regional TRF's annulment of the verdict of the federal judge in Boa Vista, Itagiba Catta Preta. According to the prosecutors, the 1st Regional TRF committed a judicial error when they accepted the defence case that the massacre was murder, not genocide, and should therefore be tried by jury in Roraima. The CCPY, friends and sympathisers of the Yanomami and the indigenous cause hope that the judge rapporteur of the Haximu case will decide to uphold the verdict of the federal judge in Boa Vista, and keep the only two goldminers who were arrested and are serving their sentences for genocide, behind bars.

 

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EX-ATTORNEY GENERAL WILL DEFEND THE INTERESTS OF THE YANOMAMI

Dr Aristides Junqueira, the former Attorney General, will defend the interests of the Yanomami people at the hearing of the 1st TRF (Federal Regional Tribunal) when appeals for a reduction of sentence by the men condemned for the Haximu massacre will be heard. At the beginning of September the STJ (Supreme Court of Justice) in Brasilia created jurisprudence by ruling that the massacre was a case of genocide, because it was the murder of an ethnic group, not the taking of individual lives, and therefore a case for a federal judge, not a jury trial. Dr Aristides Junqueira was Attorney General at the time of the massacre, went to the Haximu region soon after the news of the killings got out. He agreed to appear at the hearing at the request of the CCPY, and has waived his fees.

For further information please contact us at:
 ccpydf@uol.com.br
Journalist
Vanessa Brito (4408.19.14-DRT-MG / BRASIL)

... General | Conflicts | Intercultural Education | Environment | Yanomami Health.