Armed attack on Brazilian Amazon community while delegate at Cop26
Witnesses say tents in forest in disputed area of Pará state set alight and residents beaten
Jo Griffin
@jogriffin2
Mon 8 Nov 2021 06.09 EST
A land defender from Pará, in the Brazilian Amazon, said armed men attacked a forest community she defends while she was at the Cop26 talks in Glasgow.
Claudelice Silva dos Santos, a Cop26 delegate and nominee for the 2019 Sakharov prize, said she had received a phone call sounding the alarm after about 30 pickup trucks arrived at the São Vinicius camp at the Tinelli farm in Nova Ixipuna, home to about 80 families, at about 3pm local time on 3 November.
Police in Marabá said they were investigating the incident. Local news reports said the workers’ union transported some of the injured to hospital, but it was not known how many people were injured.
Witnesses said many people fled as the men set fire to tents before rounding up those who could not leave, putting hoods on their heads and forcing them into a lorry where they were beaten. Some people were thrown off at the side of the road a long way from the settlement and elderly people were left tied up on anthills. Some villagers hid in the forest, while the fate of others was unclear.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/08/armed-attack-brazilian-amazon-delegate-cop26