UN High Commissioner Urges Brazil To Revise Indigenous Peoples Policy

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has called on President Jair Bolsonaro's government to reverse its oppressive policy towards indigenous peoples

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th September, 2021) The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has called on President Jair Bolsonaro's government to reverse its oppressive policy towards indigenous peoples.

"In Brazil, the High Commissioner was alarmed by recent attacks against members of the Yanomami and Munduruku peoples by illegal miners in the Amazon and urged the authorities to reverse policies that negatively affected indigenous peoples," the UN statement read.

Bachelet also warned Brazil against withdrawing from the Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization, protecting the indigenous and tribal peoples, which Brazil has repeatedly violated.

On August 22, over 4,000 indigenous people set up a protest camp next to Brazilian key government agencies to rally against the loophole in Brazil's legislation, which limits indigenous land rights in order to enable the economic exploitation of territories belonging to indigenous peoples. In mid-August, the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) turned to the International Criminal Court for help in investigating Bolsonaro for alleged crimes against indigenous peoples since the beginning of his tenure, which they call "crimes against humanity, genocide and ecocide."