the plenary of the Senate approved, this Tuesday (11), a provisional measure that establishes the installation of protective sanitary barriers in order to prevent the spread of the disease. Covid-19 in indigenous areas .
The text has the purpose of reinforcing the control of the transit of people and goods to the places. They must be formed by federal public servants, primarily, or by the military. They may also be composed of civil servants and military personnel from the states, the Federal District and municipalities, with due consent.
THE National Indian Foundation (Funai) will be responsible for planning and implementing actions to control sanitary barriers, while the Ministry of Justice and Public Security may issue complementary acts. The text does not provide details of how they should be carried out.
FUNAI is authorized, on an exceptional and temporary basis, to pay the daily rates to public servants and military members of the state and district public security bodies that will act in the protection of sanitary barriers.
The Provisional Measure came into force when published, on June 7th of this year, but needed to be approved by the National Congress by October 17th in order not to lose its validity. With approval in the Senate, the matter goes on for enactment and will be effective until December 31, 2022.
The text seeks to continue the protection action in indigenous areas, after the previous law has lost its validity and after a decision by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) that establishes the implementation of sanitary barriers as a matter of urgency.
The rapporteur of the measure, Senator Paulo Rocha (PT-PA), presented a favorable opinion to the MP and reaffirmed the importance of establishing protective barriers.
He believes that “with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil, it became imperative to prevent the spread of the disease among native peoples”. He also said that “it is known that the main sources of contamination are contact with health professionals; proximity to miners and land grabbers and disrespect for the health measures instituted by the established authorities”.
Paulo Rocha also stated that the STF was “urged to comment on commissive and omissive acts by the Public Power, related to the fight against the covid-19 pandemic, which would mainly imply a high risk of contagion and extermination of various indigenous peoples”.
In a message in defense of the Provisional Measure, the Minister of Justice, Anderson Torres, stated that the expiry of the previous law “has been making it impossible for state police forces to support Funai’s work in operationalizing the protection bases and sanitary barriers that control access to indigenous lands with the presence of isolated and recently contacted peoples”.
“Without the proper support of an effective police power, some units could be demobilized, making it impossible to mitigate the spread of viral diseases among highly vulnerable populations”, he added.
*Intern under the supervision of Luciana Amaral
Source: CNN Brasil
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