Civil society organizations in Maranhão delivered an Open Letter to the state government outlining several important demands and requests focused on policy security and environmental protection. The document was presented during the State Network for the Defense of Human Rights meeting in late March in São Luís, Maranhão. In addition to ISPN, 25 other institutions participated in drafting this letter, including the Coordination of Indigenous Peoples' Organizations and Networks of Maranhão (Coapima), the Articulation of Indigenous Women of Maranhão (Amima), the Center for Indigenous Work (CTI), the Landless Workers' Movement (MST), the Community Association for Health and Agriculture Education (Acesa), the Tijupá Agroecological Association, and others.
The Open Letter was read and delivered to representatives of the state government by one of the indigenous leaders from the Maçaranduba Village (northern part of the state), also representing Coapima, Marcilene Guajajara. “Without our participation, there is no political construction focused on indigenous peoples. We want to be actively involved in the spaces that belong to us, because the place of an indigenous person is wherever they believe they should be,” she emphasized.
In the video, Marcilene Guajajara reads and delivers the Open Letter to representatives of the state government.
Among the demands presented in the Charter are the implementation of Free, Prior and Informed Consultation; guarantee of technical rigor in the licensing processes and issuance of water use permits; implementation of awareness-raising actions for the control and protection of Environmental Protection Areas (APAs) and Permanent Preservation Areas (APPs); and promotion of broad and democratic popular participation in legislative initiatives focused on socio-environmental issues.
The document was the result of collective work and consensus among civil society organizations in Maranhão, represented by indigenous peoples, traditional communities, and family farmers. The Charter sought to ratify and demand the government's commitment to promoting and protecting human rights and the environment for the people of Maranhão.
“The Charter was built collaboratively, representing the voice and demands of thousands of people from Maranhão, from traditional communities and family farmers in the state. It is the organic and legitimate claim of the people who have felt the socio-environmental damage, who know our land and know the paths to preserving our ways of life. The Charter is a portrait of the communities' main requirements. Once again, popular mobilization points the way to building democratic, effective, and sustainable public policies, which we hope will be observed by government agencies,” emphasized Vitor Hugo Moraes, technical advisor for public policies at ISPN.
Click here to read the Open Letter in full.
Photo/Video: ISPN Archive/Vitor Hugo