A forensic examination of human remains found in the Amazon has confirmed that they are those of British journalist Dom Phillips, who disappeared on June 5 along with Brazilian expert Bruno Pereira, Brazilian police said Friday. His disappearance, and the news that they were killed 10 days after his disappearance in the Amazon, sparked anger and outrage around the world.
After doubts, the forensic verdict is underway. And it is unappealable: the human remains found in the Amazon are indeed those of the British journalist Dom Phillips, who disappeared on June 5 with the Brazilian expert Bruno Pereira, the Brazilian police announced on Friday. Following the confession of a suspect on Wednesday, the bodies of British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian journalist Bruno Pereira were transferred to Brasilia on Thursday night for definitive identification.
The murders of British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian Bruno Pereira, defenders of indigenous peoples and the environment, have caused outrage in Brazil and even in the UN, while the investigation continued on Friday June 17 to try to clarify the circumstances of their deaths. deaths.
After ten days of intense search, the Federal Police announced on Wednesday that one of the two suspects, the fisherman Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, had admitted to having buried the bodies of the two men, who had disappeared since June 5 during an expedition in the Amazonian valley of Javarí, northwestern Brazil.
At the scene, police discovered “human remains” with a “99% probability” of belonging to the two men. The remains, which were encased in two wooden coffins, arrived in Brasilia on Thursday night for final identification, the AFP news agency reported.
Suspected of being the identified mastermind?
Police said late Thursday that traces of blood found on Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira’s boat when he was detained last week did not match Dom Phillips’ DNA and that “further evidence” was needed to determine if he was the man. by Bruno Pereira.
Furthermore, “no human DNA was detected” in the viscera found floating in the river. The discovery was announced by President Jair Bolsonaro in a radio interview, who concluded that “everything indicates that they have been violated.”
Now, the investigation continues to determine the motive for the crime, the circumstances of the death apparently “by firearm”, the exact role played by the two arrested suspects, Amarildo da Costa and his brother Oseney, and their possible accomplices. According to the Brazilian press, three other suspects have been identified, including the alleged intellectual author of the murders. The Federal Police has not confirmed the information, but has not ruled out more arrests.
Accountability Urged in Washington
The United States urged this Friday to establish responsibilities, giving condolences at the same time to the defenders of the Amazon.
The spokesman for US diplomacy, Ned Price, offered his condolences to the family of journalist Dom Phillips and his guide and expert Bruno Pereira, stating that they had been “murdered for their support of the preservation of the tropical forest and indigenous peoples Of the same”.
“We ask for responsibility and justice. We must collectively strengthen our efforts to protect environmentalists and journalists,” he said on Twitter.
Our condolences to the families of @domphillips and Bruno Pereira, murdered for supporting conservation of the rainforest and native peoples there. We call for accountability and justice—we must collectively strengthen efforts to protect environmental defenders and journalists.
— Ned Price (@StateDeptSpox) June 17, 2022
The double murder was confirmed days after the president of the United States, Joe Biden, held a first meeting with his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro.
Indignation
Denouncing a “brutal” and “atrocious act,” the UN called on Brazil to “increase its efforts to protect human rights defenders and indigenous peoples.”
The environmental NGO WWF-Brazil expressed its “indignation” at the state’s lack of protection “for the peoples of the jungle and their defenders.” Greenpeace stated that “in the last three years”, since the far-right president Jair Bolsonaro came to power in 2019, Brazil has become the country of “anything goes”.
Seven Brazilian indigenous leaders denounced in Brussels the climate of violence and “impunity” in the Amazon, stating that the government “shows no desire to combat environmental crimes.”
“Our strength is much greater”
The disappearance of the two men has revived criticism of the Brazilian head of state, who has been accused of promoting the invasion of indigenous lands with his rhetoric in favor of exploiting the resources of the world’s largest tropical forest.
Bolsonaro, who said that the journalist was “badly seen” in the Amazon for “his numerous reports against gold miners and on the environment,” reacted on Thursday in a terse tweet: “Our condolences to the families and may God comfort everyone’s hearts.”
The Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Javarí Valley (Univaja), whose members actively participated in the search, described the murder as a “political crime” because it was directed against “human rights defenders.”
In London, Jonathan Watts, a colleague of Dom Phillips at The Guardian, told AFP he hoped the “monstrous” killings would encourage, not deter, the media from continuing their work on environmental crime.
Now that the spirits of Bruno are walking in the forest and espalhados in people, our strength is much greater.
– Beatriz Matos (@irekaron) June 16, 2022
The British journalist’s family in the United Kingdom said they were “heartbroken”, and thanked those involved in the search “especially the indigenous people”. “Now that Bruno’s spirits walk through the jungle and disperse among us, our strength is much greater,” Bruno Pereira’s widow, Beatriz Matos, wrote on Twitter.
*With AFP; adapted from its French version
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