Indigenous Peoples, Genocide and Pandemics in Brazil

COVID-19 pandemics spreads among Brazilian indigenous communities while they endure the dismantling of protective policies, the current government's hostility, as well as the disproportionate effects in terms of contamination and mortality. This situation has been concerning indigenous organizations and public authorities in Brazil and worldwide. Indigenous peoples are potential victims of genocide, an act characterized both as a criminally punishable conduct and as a State policy capable to generate international State liability. This study intends to investigate whether and how the conditions of susceptibility to the physical destruction met by several Brazilian indigenous communities during the pandemics can be framed as an outcome of a genocidal State policy. To this end, this article carries out a comprehensive bibliographic and documentary review of the Brazilian State's performance in recent years towards indigenous peoples, their current situation during the pandemic and, finally, it analyzes doctrine, legislation and case law regarding genocide as an internationally prohibited act practiced by the State.

Article is in Portuguese.

https://doi.org/10.22409/rcj.v7i17.1008