Greenpeace UK calls on Boris Johnson to condemn Amazon murders

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Projections on London’s Tower Bridge last night called for “Justice for Dom and Bruno” and for the UK Government to act following the announcement yesterday of the murders of British Journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira.

Four slides read:
JUSTICE FOR DOM & BRUNO/ MURDERED IN THE AMAZON/ BORIS MUST CALL OUT BOLSONARO/ PROTECT INDIGENOUS RIGHTS PROTECT THE AMAZON

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Greenpeace UK organised the projection and today is calling on Boris Johnson to condemn the two men’s murders and finally stand up to President Bolsonaro’s racist and anti-environmental agenda. 

Following an earlier statement issued this morning, Pat Venditti, Greenpeace UK Executive Director said this evening:
“Dom and Bruno’s deaths are the latest in a growing series of brutal attacks against environmental defenders and Indigenous communities in the Amazon.

“President Bolsonaro’s racist rhetoric and his systematic rolling back of Indigenous Peoples’ rights and environmental protections has given violent land grabbers, miners and illegal loggers the greenlight to invade Indigenous Lands. 

“Governments around the world – including the UK – have continued doing business as usual with Brazil ignoring the fact that hundreds of people are dying and many thousands more face threats and violence on a daily basis. It has to stop. 

“These latest deaths must mark a turning point. And Boris Johnson must take a stand against Bolsonaro’s agenda by condemning these murders in the strongest possible terms.”

ENDS

Notes

182 Indigenous people were killed in 2020 – a 61% increase on 2019: https://cimi.org.br/2021/10/relatorioviolencia2020/ 

Right now, a suite of bills that have become known as “The Destruction Package” are being pushed through the Brazilian Congress that will open up mining in Indigenous Territories and prevent the recognition of Indigenous Land Rights. 

PL 191/2020 will allow mining and other forms of economic exploitation within TIs; and PL 490/2007, which advocates the Temporal Framework and is therefore unconstitutional. These two PLs pose serious risks to the integrity of Indigenous Peoples.

Total trade in goods and services between the UK and Brazil was £6 billion in 2021, an increase of 8.4% or £466 million from 2020: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1075360/brazil-trade-and-investment-factsheet-2022-05-18.pdf 

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