PERMANENT PEOPLES’ TRIBUNAL
SESSION IN DEFENSE OF THE CERRADO TERRITORIES
Thematic hearing on food sovereignty and socio-biodiversity
March 15-16, 2022
1:00 pm – 4:30 pm, Brasilia time – 5:00 pm – 8:30 pm, CET
Statement by the PPT panel of judges
March 29, 2022
2:00-3:00 pm, Brasilia time – 7:00-8:00 pm CET
You can follow the hearing in Portuguese here:
You can follow the hearing in Spanish here:
The hearing on food sovereignty and socio-biodiversity that is about to take place is part of the 49th session of the PPT dedicated to the territories of the Cerrado and the populations that inhabit it. During the hearing, the PPT will examine the conditions in which traditional agricultural systems are, the increase in hunger, and the risks to public health caused by contamination of pesticides and the dismantling of Brazil’s food and nutrition security policies. The thematic hearing on food sovereignty and socio-biodiversity takes place at a time when the Chamber of Deputies approved, on 9 February, bill 6922/2002, which makes the use of pesticides in the country more flexible.
The cases that will be exposed in this hearing concern: the river community of Chupé and the indigenous people Akroá Gamela of Vão do Vico (State of Piauí); the indigenous peoples Krahô-Takaywrá and Krahô Kanela (State of Tocantins); the indigenous peoples Guarani, Kaiowá and Kinikinau (State of Mato Grosso do Sul); the peasant communities of the Reforma Agrária Roseli Nunes settlement (State of Mato Grosso); the Quilombolas communities of Cocalinho and Guerreiro (State of Maranhão), the workers of Coco-Babaçu and the farmers of the Viva Deus camp (State of Maranhão). The Articulação de Mulheres do Cerrado will deliver a specific document containing complaints from women of the different peoples of the Cerrado, to demonstrate how the violations presented at the hearing affect their lives and their bodies in such a way. The Articulação Pacari, the Movimento Interestadual das Quebradeiras de Coco Babaçu (MIQCB) and the Movimento de Pequenos Agricultores (MPA) / La Via Campesina Brasil will also be present. The TPP jury will release its statement on March 29, 2022.
On September 10th, 2021, the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal opened its 49th session dedicated to the territories of Cerrado and to the populations that inhabit it, which will be divided into three thematic hearings: on water (30/11-01/12/2021), on food sovereignty and socio-biodiversity (15-16/03/2022), and on land and territory (07-08-09/06/2022). At the end of each hearing, the panel of judges will release a statement. It will also be called to issue a judgment on the indictment presented by the National Campaign in Defense of the Cerrado at the end of the session. During the inaugural session, the Campaign, which includes 50 social movements and organizations in Brazil, publicly presented the indictment to the panel of judges of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal. In it, the Brazilian State, foreign States, international organizations, and transnational companies are indicated as responsible for the ecocide and cultural genocide of the peoples of Cerrado [access the summary, the full video of the opening event, and the summary video). During the PPT session, 15 cases will be presented involving territories, peasant communities and indigenous peoples of the States of Bahía, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Piauí and Tocantins (access the case map). The collection of evidence and documentation is the result of an extensive listening and analysis process that involved the communities and organizations that make up the Campaign.
The hearing on water that took place on November 30 and December 1, 2021, examined the methods of appropriation and exploitation of water resources (rivers and aquifers of Cerrado) and their contamination. During the proceedings, it was possible to hear the testimonies of the communities and experts on six cases considered as emblematic of a trend of expropriation and exploitation of hydric resources. This trend has its roots in the policies promoted since the time of the Brazilian dictatorship which, in recent years, have accelerated the process of environmental, territorial, and social reconfiguration of Cerrado (statement of the PPT panel of judges).
The PPT panel of judges is composed of: Antoni Pigrau Solé, professor of international law at the Rovira i Virgili University of Tarragona, Spain; Deborah Duprat, jurist and former Deputy Attorney General of the Republic of Brazil; Mons. José Valdeci of the Diocese of Brejo, Brazil; Eliane Brum, Brazilian journalist; Enrique Leff, Mexican economist and environmental sociologist; Luiz Eloy Terena, indigenous jurist and member of PAIB, Brazil; Rosa Acevedo Marín, Venezuelan sociologist and lecturer at the Federal University of Pará; Silvia Ribeiro, Uruguayan journalist and researcher of the ETC Group; Teresa Almeida Cravo, Portuguese professor of international relations at the University of Coimbra. Also on the panel of judges is Philippe Texier, French jurist and current president of the PPT.
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The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) is an international opinion tribunal that is competent to judge any type of crime committed causing injury to peoples and minorities. It was established in Bologna in 1979 thanks to the intuition of jurist and politician Lelio Basso, on the basis of the framework defined in the Universal Declaration of the Rights of People (1976). Established as a direct continuation of the Russel Tribunals on Vietnam (1966-67) and Latin America (1973-76), it was then transformed into a permanent institution, able to give a voice and visibility to those people facing a lack of their rights, and impunity. The Tribunal is built around a network of 70 internationally recognized experts and actors, who are then appointed for the PPT panel of judges for each session. Through its 48 sessions and judgments, the Tribunal has given visibility to several cases of serious human rights violations, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide. It has recently expanded the scope of its competence to include economic, ecological, and systemic crimes.
The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal is based in Rome, at the Fondazione Lelio e Lisli Basso, Via della Dogana Vecchia 5.