Archived press release

More Cases of Indian Deaths as ASA rules on Mahogany Leaflet

8 November 1995

Friends of the Earth today (Wednesday Nov. 8) released new details on tribal Indians killed by loggers in the Amazon rainforests of Brazil. The new examples of murder and intimidation linked to the mahogany trade come to light on the day that the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled against a leaflet promoting FOE's Mahogany is Murder' campaign [1]. The present ASA decision follows an October ruling in which complaints against a FOE cinema advertisement which linked the mahogany trade between Brazil and the UK with the killing of tribal indigenous people were upheld.

FOE has already presented the ASA with substantial evidence showing that the mahogany trade is mostly illegal, causes large-scale environmental problems and is behind the deaths of large numbers of indigenous people. Today, FOE released further examples of how loggers act with violence against the tribal people who live in the Amazon rainforests where the mahogany grows. A list of instances of murder, intimidation and damage to Indian property recently caused by loggers has been sent to the ASA today [2]. These examples are based on material obtained from official Brazilian sources that document at least five new cases of murder in 1994 whilst an official Brazilian government letter confirms that, between 1991 and 1993, 21 deaths of Indians were caused through "direct confrontation with loggers" in the Guajajara indigenous area alone [3].

Charles Secrett, Friends of the Earth's Director, said:

"We have provided the ASA with plenty of information about how the mahogany trade causes terrible and widespread suffering to indigenous people and how most of what is logged is taken illegally. How many Indians need to die before the mahogany trade can be described as murder or illegal?

We know what we're talking about. We have detailed evidence provided by Brazil's Indian agency, its environment ministry and the Attorney General's office. How can the ASA second guess what these organisations have to say. If the ASA doesn't believe us, why doesn't it contact the Brazilian authorities before coming to these false conclusions which contradict all the available evidence".

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] The ASA has upheld complaints made by the Timber Trade Federation and the Brazilian Embassy in London against a Friends of the Earth leaflet entitled "Please will you stop paying to have my people murdered?" The ASA's adjudication upheld three out of five complaints. These concerned FOE's claim that most mahogany imported into Britain was logged illegally, the impression conveyed by the leaflet that the Brazilian authorities had turned a blind eye to the killing of Indians by loggers and the claim that the UK buys more than half of the mahogany produced by Brazil. FOE accepts a genuine mistake in respect of the fact that its leaflet should have said that the UK until recently bought half the mahogany exported by Brazil but does not accept that its leaflet is wrong in the other respects.

[2] Information provided to Friends of the Earth by Brazil's Indian affairs agency FUNAI shows the following records of aggressive action by loggers against indigenous people during 1994. FUNAI has emphasised to Friends of the Earth that these examples are by no means a comprehensive record of violent acts against indians by loggers.

TYPE OF VIOLENCE/DATE/ETHNIC GROUP/STATE -ADR-VILLAGE/NAMES

Murder/29.08.94/Tikuna/AM-MA- Pin Tefe/Aldebio Cavalcanti da Silva

Murder/26.02.94/Tikuna/AM-Tabatinga-Evare-Belem Solimoes/Ovidio Roberto

Murder/05.04.94/ ? /RO-Porto Velho/Dudo Tenharim

Murder/28.07.94/Pankararu/TO- Gurupi/Francisco Pereira de Sousa

Murder/16.07.94/Xerente/TO-Gurupi/Xuhian Xerente

Aggresion/Jan/Mar94/Nambikwara/RO-Vale Guapore-Sarare/Indigenous Community

Aggression/ .02.94/ ? /AM-Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira/ Valdemarina Barbosa

Aggression/ .02.94/ ? /AM-Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira/ Valcicleia Ramos

Battering/02.04.94/Tukano/AM-Sao Gabriel cachoeira-Balaio/ Joselina Fernandes Sampaio

Battering/16.09.94/Xerente/TO-Gurupi/Valdir Xerente

Battering/08.04.94/Apiaka/PA-Itaituba/SSS

Illegal Arrest/07.03.94/Tikuna/MA-Tabatinga-Evare-Campo Alegre/Adelson Leandro

Damage Ind. Prop/Jan-Mar94/Namikwara/RO-Vale Guapore-Sarare/Indigenous Community

Damage Ind. Prop./Jan-Jun94/Kayapo/Xkrin/PA-Maraba-Pin Katete/Indigenous Community

Damage Ind. Prop./29.04.94/Kayapo/Xkrin/PA-Maraba-Pin Katete/Indigenous Community

Damage Ind. Prop./09.12.94/Kayapo/Xkrin/PA- Maraba-Pin Katete/Indigenous Community

Attempted Murder/04.04.94/Guajajara/MA-Imperatriz-Cunadal/ Luizinho

[3] A letter (10/11/93) from FUNAI to the President of Brazil's official environment agency (IBAMA) obtained by Friends of the Earth says that from 1991 to 1993 that 21 Indians were killed in the Guajajara indigenous area as a direct consequence of confrontations with loggers. The letter says that each month about 4,000 to 5,000 truckloads of wood are being removed from the indigenous area alone. A copy of the original letter is attached to this news release.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust