Brazil remembers the journalist Dom Phillips and the indigenist Bruno Pereira one year after their murders

Exactly one year ago, two emblematic figures of the Amazon rainforest, the British journalist Dom Phillips and the indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, were assassinated while documenting environmental crimes in the Brazilian Amazon.

On the occasion of the anniversary that marks the first anniversary of his death, Phillips’s widow organized a meeting on Monday, June 5, on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, where Phillips used to do water sports, to remember her late husband and continue your fight.

“We have to know more about what is happening and stop exploiting the jungle as predators,” he declared on this emblematic beach in the capital of Rio.

He was wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “Amazonia, sua linda” (“Amazonia, precious”), in reference to the last message posted by the journalist on Instagram before he was murdered.

The indigenous leader Beto Maruba, a member of the Univaja organization, which fights for the protection of indigenous groups in the Javari Valley, also called for justice.

“Brazil owes this explanation to the world and to the family of Dom and Bruno,” he said.

Several rallies also took place in London and Brasilia, Salvador, Campinas and Belém, as well as in Atalaia do Norte, in the Javari Valley, an indigenous reserve in northern Brazil where the two men disappeared.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva paid tribute to the men on World Environment Day.

“Bruno and Dom deserved and should have been here today (…) their brutal murder shocked the world that came to see the Amazon as a lawless land,” the president said Monday.

“We will not abandon this fight for the planet and we will not forget Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira,” added Lula.

double murder

On June 5, 2022, Pereira and Philips were last seen in the village of São Rafael. They were in the area to document environmental crimes, especially those related to illegal fishing. They had left by boat to Atalaia do Norte, but never arrived.

Ten days later, the remains of their bodies were discovered on the banks of the Itaquaí River. It was learned that they were shot dead.

According to the ongoing investigation, three fishermen are still in jail. “Pelado”, Amarildo da Costa Oliveira; “Pelado da Dinha”, Jefferson da Silva Lima, and “Dos Santos”, Oseney da Costa Oliveira, they confessed to shooting the two men before dismembering their bodies and hiding the remains in the jungle. They would allegedly be linked to a drug trafficking network.

The alleged sponsor of the murders is Colombian citizen Rubens Villar, known as “Colombia.” He would have ordered Amarildo da Costa Oliveira to kill the Brazilian expert.

Rubens Villar allegedly used the sale of fish obtained from illegal fishing in the region to launder drug money from Peru and Colombia. Charges were filed against him last week, as reported by ‘TV Globo’ on Sunday.

jungle heroes

Dom Philips worked for the newspaper ‘The Guardian’ and was writing a book entitled “How to save the Amazon”. She was there, among other things, to interview indigenous leaders who suffer from drug trafficking, as well as illegal fishermen, gold miners and hunters.

Since her death, those close to her have launched a fundraising campaign to finish her book.

“Dom was killed for this book. The least we can do is finish the task to which he devoted the last part of his life (…) He may be gone, but he will not be silenced,” Jonathan Watts said in a statement. environment writer for ‘The Guardian’.

Bruno Pereira worked for the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) and helped indigenous groups protect their lands, which had already earned him several death threats.

The disappearance of the two men sparked an international wave of condemnation, from the rock band U2 to soccer legend Pelé.

“I have heard many children say that they saw Dom and Bruno as heroes of the jungle. This has made people aware of the Amazon and the seriousness of the threat that hangs over it, both in Brazil and internationally,” he confided. Alessandra Sampaio to AFP last week.

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However, death threats and violence continue in the Javarí Valley one year after the tragic event.

“Absolutely nothing has changed,” leader Beto Marubo said Thursday.

Last Thursday, the documentary “The Valley of the Isolated” premiered in Rio, made with images recovered from Pereira’s mobile phone, found in the jungle months after his death.

“This film is a way to honor Bruno’s work in defense of our families and our people. Bruno and Dom died in the name of our families,” another indigenous leader from the region, Eliesio Marubo, told the audience.

“We will continue everything we did together with Bruno to strengthen not only his story, his fight, his legacy, but also to say that we continue to exist with the same problems we had before they were killed,” he concluded.

According to a report by the NGO Foro de Seguridad Pública, the homicide rate in the Brazilian Amazon states was more than 50% higher than the rest of Brazil in 2022.

With EFE, AP, AFP and local media