Judge Hilo de Almeida Sousa decided on Tuesday afternoon (Jan 19) in favor of the Gamela people in the Morro D’Água indigenous territory, in the municipality of Baixa Grande do Ribeiro, in southern Piauí, allowing them to retake their land from which they had been illegally removed. The community must now go to court so that Bauer Souto dos Santos and the State are held responsible for illegal eviction during the pandemic and to pay for material and moral damages to people in the community.

Understand the case

On the afternoon of last Thursday (14), Judge Francisco das Chagas Ferreira, from Gilbués (PI), issued and executed an injunction with eviction order in a lawsuit filed by Bauer Souto dos Santos against indigenous leader Gamela Adaildo José Alves da Silva, whose family has lived in Morro D'Água for generations.

With police present, gunmen hired by Santos torn down fences, removed personal property from the family home and burned a shed. On Sunday (17), the land grabber again threatened the indigenous people with death.

Adaildo José Alves and his family are indigenous Gamela, who have lived and worked in the territory for almost a hundred years. The territory, which has about 1500 hectares, is claimed as a land traditionally occupied by the Gamela People within the scope of the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI).

Recognition of the right to land is the result of popular pressure

The recognition of their right to land was the result of the organization of the community and its articulation with the Pastoral Land Commission – Piauí (CPT), the Network for Social Justice and Human Rights, AATR and other entities that mobilized in defense of the rights of the Gamela de Morro D 'Agua people.

“We appreciate the support of all entities in this fight in solidarity with the Gamela. We will continue to denounce land grabbing and violence in the countryside in Piauí. We reject this practice and reaffirm the right of traditional communities to remain on the land”, says Altamiran Ribeiro, from CPT-Piauí.