Brazil condemned for violating quilombola rights

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) has condemned the Brazilian state for violating the human rights of 171 quilombola communities in Alcântara, Maranhão state.

The trial took place in April 2023 and the sentence was announced Thursday (Mar. 13), ordering the Brazilian state to adopt measures to demarcate and complete the collective titling of the quilombola territory of 78,105 hectares.

The sentence stems from the building of the Rocket Launch Center (CLA), which began in the 1980s, and was imposed due to the violations of the rights of the quilombolas of Alcântara to collective property, free movement and residence, self-determination, prior consultation, family protection, food, housing, education, equality before the law, and judicial protection, among others.

Alcântara is the municipality with the highest proportion of quilombola people in Brazil, with 84.6 percent of residents having self-declared a quilombola. The Quilombola Territory of Alcântara has 152 communities, is home to 3,350 families, and was occupied by enslaved black people from the 18th century onwards.

The sentence stems from the building of the Rocket Launch Center, which began in the 1980s, and was imposed due to the violations of the rights of the quilombolas of Alcântara to collective property. – Joédson Alves / Agência Brasil

Trial

In April 2023, when the case was brought to trial at the court in Chile, Brazil apologized to the quilombolas and acknowledged that the state had violated the Alcântara communities’ rights to property and judicial protection.

On that occasion, Brazilian Prosecutor-General Jorge Messias read out an apology that also recognized 152 communities represented in the case as being quilombo descendants.

“There has been a violation by the [Brazilian] state of the right to property in this case, as Brazil has not yet promoted the titling of the territory traditionally occupied by the communities. There has also been a violation of judicial protection as a result of the procedural delay and the inefficiency of the judicial and administrative bodies to allow the quilombola communities of Alcântara to exercise their right to collective ownership of the land they occupy,” he declared.