(ANSA) – BRAZIL, JUN 16 – “Human remains” have been found in the research of the British journalist, Dom Phillips, and of the Brazilian anthropologist, Bruno Araújo, who disappeared eleven days ago in western Amazon: this was confirmed by the Minister of Justice Brazilian, Anderson Torres, after yesterday the brothers Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, known as ‘Dos Santos’, and Amarildo da Costa Oliveira, known as ‘Pelado’, confessed to having killed them and made the bodies disappear.
The bodies, which have meanwhile been collected by federal police officers, had been hidden by the alleged killers in a difficult-to-access jungle area.
Phillips and Pereira had been missing since June 5, when they were last seen in the municipality of Sao Rafael, from where they left by boat for Atalaia do Norte, in the state of Amazonas. For the police commissioner, Eduardo Fontes, it was a “heinous crime”.
The double murder took place in the Vale do Javarí, near the border with Peru and Colombia, where there is a reserve of indigenous people harassed by gold miners, drug traffickers and illegal fishermen. Phillips, 57, a contributor to The Guadian newspaper, and Araújo, 41, a former official of the National Indian Foundation (Funai), were researching the plight of some tribes and had received threats for their work.
Phillips’ wife, Alessandra Sampaio, has urged swift investigations into the case, while indigenous representatives denounce the lack of security in the forest. “Even if we await the final confirmations, this tragic outcome puts an end to the anguish of not knowing where Dom and Bruno are: now we can take them home and bid them goodbye with love,” said the woman.
“The increase in conflicts in indigenous lands is mainly caused by illegal extractors, which have increased in recent years, creating a scenario of environmental violence and devastation,” said indigenous MP, Joenia Wapichana, of the environmental party Rede Sustainability.
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Source: Ansa
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