Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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333. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the persecution being suffered by the Guarani-Kaiowá people in Mato Grosso do Sul in Brazil including their forced removal from their ancestral lands at the hands of agri-business, the Brazilian Government and paramilitaries; if he will contact the Brazilian Government and convey the State's indignation at the crimes that are being inflicted on the Guarani-Kaiowá; if he will insist that the Brazilian Government and the UN intervene to protect the human rights and land rights of the Guarani-Kaiowá; if the State and the UN will send observers to the area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25646/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I am aware of the situation of the Guarani-Kaiowá people in Mato Grosso Do Sul and the challenges faced by indigenous populations in other parts of Latin America. I condemn unreservedly any intimidation, violence, or discrimination perpetrated against indigenous people and those seeking to defend their rights, whether in Brazil or elsewhere.

As the Deputy will be aware, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples visited the Guarani-Kaiowá people in Mato Grosso Do Sul in March of last year to identify and assess the main issues facing indigenous peoples there. The Special Rapporteur’s report of August 2016 recognised that Brazil has in the past been a leader in the area of indigenous peoples’ rights and has made significant achievements in this area, including in constitutional provisions protecting the rights of its indigenous people. However, the report also noted a worrying regression in the protection of indigenous peoples’ rights in recent years.

Consequently, Ireland used the occasion of the 27th Session of the Universal Periodic Review of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on 5 May 2017 to express our concern at the reported regression in the protection of indigenous peoples’ rights in Brazil. Ireland recommended that Brazil take further steps to protect human rights defenders, including those working in relation to the rights of indigenous peoples, by ensuring impartial, thorough and effective investigations into all cases of attacks, harassment and intimidation and the prosecution of all alleged perpetrators of such offences.

In addition to these representations at multilateral level, officials of my Department at home and abroad engage regularly with human rights activists and civil society leaders in Latin America, including those working on the rights of indigenous communities.

Furthermore, the issue of the rights of indigenous peoples is the subject of ongoing attention by European Union Ambassadors in Brazil. Ireland and other EU Member States strongly support the mandate of FUNAI, the government agency responsible for enforcing the rights of indigenous peoples. Together with our EU partners, we have urged the Government of Brazil to ensure that FUNAI is adequately resourced to carry out its important work.

I can assure the Deputy that Ireland’s representatives in Brazil and in multilateral fora such as the United Nations will continue to actively engage with these important issues.