UN receives an urgent appeal on threats to the Uru Eu Wau Wau Indigenous Land
Urgent appeal warns of the stalling in disintrusion efforts, the increase of threats against indigenous leaders, and asks for the United Nations to intercede before decisions pending at the STF
Gado em campo desmatado com muita fumaça das queimadas, em área próxima da TI Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau (Foto: Bruno Kelly/Amazônia Real/2023).
This Monday (27th), Conectas, the Kanindé Ethnoenvironmental Defense Association and the Jupaú Association submitted an urgent appeal to authorities and mechanisms of the United Nations to report human rights violations faced by the Uru Eu Wau Wau Indigenous Land, located in Rondônia, in the Brazilian Amazon.
The document highlights the permanence of invaders in the territory nearly 35 years after its demarcation was approved. According to the organizations, the presence of non-indigenous people within the land boundaries is associated with environmental degradation, land grabbing, and threats and episodes of violence against indigenous peoples.
One of the main focuses of the conflict is the Burareiro region, considered sacred by the Jupaú people and where its ancestors are buried. In 19785, the State created the Burareiro Directed Settlement Project (PAD, acronym in Portuguese) in the region. Out of the distributed plots of land, 115, corresponding to 14,000 hectares, overlapped with the Uru Eu Wau Wau Indigenous Land.
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The organizations emphasize that the problem has extended for over five decades and defend a solution that ensures the full return of the indigenous territory without hindering the original beneficiaries of the settlement due to an error perpetrated by the public authorities.
Interrupted disintrusion
In 2023, under ADPF 709, the Federal Supreme Court (STF, acronym in Portuguese) determined that the federal government should carry out the disintrusion of the Uru Eu Wau Wau Indigenous Land, in addition to six other territories. The operation in the Rondônia territory began only in September 2025.
The Burareiro area, however, was left out of the regular operation. The conflict was referred to the National Land Solutions Commission, of the National Justice Council, responsible for raising information on the occupation and conducting a mediation process.
According to the appeal, in December 2025, during the first mediation session, members of the commission stated that there was no question on the overlapping of the Burareiro PAD with the indigenous land and indicated that the case should seek a solution to the departure of non-indigenous occupants through compensation or resettlement.
The continuity of the mediation, however, was interrupted after the STF determined the disintrusion actions. A new conciliation hearing called by the Supreme Court is scheduled for August 15, 2026.
Organizations warn of threats
The appeal also sheds light on the worsening of the safety of indigenous leaders, given the lack of definition on the removal of invaders.
According to the document, a survey by Instituto Democracia em Xeque identified the spread of misinformation in social media on the disintrusion operation, including content holding indigenous people and the National Indigenous Peoples’ Foundation (Funai) for displacing farmers’ families.
Indigenous leaders also reported the spread of threatening messages and content encouraging resistance to the operation. Representatives of the Kanindé and Jupaú associations are already part of the Human Rights Defender, Communicator and Environmentalists Protection Program due to threats and previous episodes of violence.
According to the appeal, the threats have become more intense after the disintrusion was announced, with reports of rewards offered for the murder of leaders singled out as responsible for the operation.
Appeal asks for actions by the UN
The document was forwarded to, among other authorities, the assistant secretary-general of the UN for Human Rights, Claudia Fuentes Julio; the South America Chief of the Indigenous Peoples and Minorities Section at the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Hernand Vales; the residing coordinator of the UN in Brazil, Igor Garafulic; and the special rapporteurs on the rights of indigenous peoples and the situation of human rights defenders.
The three organizations ask that the UN mechanisms request information from the STF and the CNJ on the conciliation proceeding related to the Burareiro PAD and measures set out to ensure effective participation of the indigenous peoples.
They also request that the UN inquire with the National Land Solutions Commission on its role in hearings and state its concern with the virtual trial on the stays of execution related to ADC 87, which refers to Law No. 14,701/2023. To the organizations, the absence of in-person sessions could restrict the access of indigenous peoples to Justice.
The appeal further asks that the Special Procedures of the United Nations publish a joint press release on the severity of the situation and make a statement on the compatibility between Brazilian legislation and human rights. “In this scenario of institutional weakening of the protection of indigenous lands, the Uru Eu Wau Wau peoples are becoming even more vulnerable to administrative and judicial decisions that curtail their right to land and territory”, the organizations state in the document.
