ProtectDefenders.eu was recently informed about the increase in attacks and killings against Brazilian human rights defenders, in particular against those who defend their territories and communities in Quilombo Onça in the state of Maranhão.
On 30 May 2024, human rights defender Antonio Alves, 73, was attacked and beaten with the back of a rifle by two men on the way from his community to the town of Santa Ines, in Maranhão. The attackers also directed death threats against the human rights defender, as well as against three other leaders and human rights defenders from Quilombo Onça, Antonio Jean, Valdivino Lopes and Reginaldo da Conceição. Despite the report made by the defenders to the local authorities, there has so far been no progress in the investigations.
Antonio Alves, Antonio Jean, Valdivino Lopes and Reginaldo da Conceição are Quilombola leaders from the Onça Quilombo, located in the Médio Mearim region, in the municipality of Santa Ines – Maranhão. They are members of the Quilombola Movement of Maranhão (MOQUIBOM) and the National Articulation of Quilombos (ANQ), as well as organizers of the Web of Traditional Peoples and Communities of Maranhão.
Since 2010, Quilombo Onça has been fighting for the title to its traditional lands. For years the community has been facing threats and intimidation due to the context of conflict with local landowners, claiming that the farmers have appropriated part of their territory. The three leaders and human rights defenders Antonio Jean, Valdivino Lopes and Reginaldo da Conceição have already suffered threats in the past and Antonio and Reginaldo are formally included in the federal government’s Protection Program of Human Rights Defenders, Environmentalists and Journalists (PPDDH – Programa de Proteção a Defensores de Direitos Humanos, Ambientalistas e Jornalistas’), in partnership with the state government of Maranhão.
The Coordenação Nacional de Articulação das Comunidades Negras Rurais Quilomboas (National Coalition of Black Rural Quilombola Communities) – CONAQ, has expressed concern regarding the violence against Quilombola leaders in Maranhão. CONAQ highlights that Maranhão is one of the states with the highest murder rates of Quilombola defenders in the country, with 12 leaders killed in the last 4 years. According to the Quilombola Movement of Maranhão (MOQUIBOM), «attacks like this, as well as threats and murders against the Quilombola population of Maranhão, have been constant in recent decades, and worry families and the human rights defenders protecting the territories».
According to ProtectDefenders.eu Consortium partner Front Line Defenders, one of the factors exacerbating the situation in the region is the lack of official recognition of Quilombola territories by the state. Only six of the 419 Quilombola communities in Maranhão have their title of collective Quilombola territory recognized. The lack of legal support and concrete public policies for Quilombola populations has allowed offensive attacks by cattle and monoculture farmers. Such farmers appropriate land in the Quilombola territories and rely on private security groups that in many instances intimidate communities and threaten Quilombola leaders.
