Brazil: In three days, security guards for palm oil company Brasil BioFuels allegedly shot and wounded five Tembé Indigenous people
According to the complaint made by leaders of the Tembé indigenous people to the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, between 4 and 7 August, five members of the community were injured after attacks allegedly perpetrated by security guards of the company Brasil BioFuels (BBF), a producer of palm oil (the largest in Latin America) and biofuels.
On 4 August, Kauã Tembé was reportedly shot in the groin during an action that the community defined as "illegal and arbitrary" by the company's security guards in the village of Bananal, in Tomé-Açu, northeast Pará.
The following Monday, three other indigenous people were shot by company security guards as community members approached BBF headquarters to protest against what had happened to Kauã Tembé. Daiane Tembé was also injured while filming the actions of the security guards against the indigenous people from inside her vehicle. The episode occurred shortly before the arrival of a special mission coordinated by the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) to investigate complaints of violations by indigenous people during a parallel table of the "Amazon Dialogues".
During the Amazon Summit, an open letter written by the Tembé Indigenous Association of the Acará Valley (AITVA) was released, in which it was pointed out that "these attacks are frequent and widely documented by international organisations, including the British NGO Global Witness and the ARNS Commission, as well as national and international press outlets". The text holds BBF responsible for "deforestation, pollution and the expulsion of traditional peoples from their lands".
The company is publicised by the government of the state of Pará as one of the great bets related to the bioeconomy and energy transition, with emphasis on the production of biofuel for aircraft.
BHRRC invited Brasil BioFuels to comment on the allegations and their response is available.