After eleven days in missing condition, the Brazilian police found in a remote region of the Amazon human remains that could presumably belong to the British journalist Dom Phillips and the indigenous expert Esto, after the main suspect confessed his participation in the murder of the victims and later guide the officers to the presumed corpses. Now, the police will take DNA samples to check if they are the disappeared.
This Wednesday, June 15, the Brazilian police found human remains in their search for the British journalist Dom Phillips and the Brazilian indigenista Bruno Pereira, both disappeared eleven days ago in a remote and jungle region of the Brazilian Amazon. This finding comes after a fisherman, the main suspect, had confessed to having killed them in the Amazon jungle.
The Minister of Justice of the South American country, Anderson Torres, was the one who announced the news. “I have just been informed by the Federal Police that human remains were found in the place where the excavations are being carried out. They will be subjected to expertise,” the official reported in a message posted on his social networks.
The alleged perpetrators of the murder are the fishermen brothers Amarildo da Costa Oliveira, known as ‘Pelado’, and Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, known as ‘Dos Santos’. The first was arrested last week and was considered the main suspect and the second was arrested on Tuesday. The police also reported a possible third party involved.
However, Detective Fontes, in charge of this investigation, told reporters that alias ‘Pelado’ had confessed his participation in the crime, while ‘Dos Santos’ had denied any involvement in the case.
After the confession, the main suspect led the investigators to the place, in the Javari Valley, in the Brazilian Amazon near the border with Peru and Colombia. It is in this place where he said he buried what remained of the bodies of Phillips and Pereira, whom he dismembered and then incinerated, according to the local newspaper ‘Folha de São Paulo’.
The remains will be analyzed and compared with the DNA samples taken from the families of both.
The track of Phillips and Pereira was lost on June 5 when they were traveling in a new boat from the community of São Rafael to the city of Atalaia do Norte. In that area there have been violent conflicts between fishermen, poachers and state agents.
Federal police said they would hold a news conference on Wednesday night to make “an exceptional clarification on the investigations.”
First clues of the disappeared
Last Saturday, volunteers from the Matis indigenous group informed the official search teams of the discovery of a canvas from the boat used by the disappeared.
“We used a small canoe to go into the shallows. Then we found a tarp, shorts and a bucket,” Binin Beshu, one of the volunteers, told the AP agency.
On Sunday, authorities began searching the area and discovered a backpack, laptop and other personal items submerged underwater. That same night, police confirmed that the items found belonged to both missing men.
Previously, the local police announced the discovery of traces of blood in the boat of alias ‘Pelado’. The agents also found organic matter of apparent human origin in the river that was sent for analysis.
Who are Domm Phillips and Bruno Pereira?
Domm Phillips is a British freelance journalist who has written for ‘The Guardian’, ‘The Washington Post’ and other major outlets.
He was conducting research in the Amazon with his Brazilian partner, Bruno Pereira, an indigenous expert with extensive experience at the National Indian Foundation (Funai), the Brazilian government body that establishes and develops policies related to indigenous peoples.
The Brazilian instructed the indigenous people in the use of technology to document their complaints and thus put pressure on public powers to apply the law and prevent invasions in these ecological reserves of the jungle. Pereira also participated in various operations against illegal fishing.
Indeed, the indigenous expert was in the crosshairs of the criminal gangs that plunder the riches of these reserves, almost intact.
During their visit to the Brazilian Amazon, Domm and Pereira were threatened by poachers, who flashed their weapons in the distance. Among them, at least one of those arrested in the case.
Presumed motives for the crime
Authorities believe that an international network that pays poor fishermen to fish illegally in the Javari Valley reserve, the second largest indigenous territory in Brazil, could be behind the disappearance and alleged murders of Phillips and Pereira.
This town has almost intact natural wealth, something that makes it a coveted booty for all kinds of illegal activities, be it hunting, fishing, wood or mineral extraction.
The mayor of Atalaia do Norte, Denis Paiva, speculated that the alleged crime could be related to “some personal dispute over the fishing inspection.”
For its part, the federal police have not ruled out other lines of investigation, such as drug trafficking, since in recent years the invasions of fishermen or poachers have multiplied in this territory with the entry of money from drug trafficking.
In parallel, government agencies for the protection of indigenous people and the environment have been weakened by the government since Jair Bolsonaro came to power. The authorities have made strong budget cuts and have entrusted the jungle areas to bosses unrelated to these issues.
Asked about Phillips at a press conference on the weakening of environmental law enforcement, Bolsonaro said that “the two men were in an affair that is not recommended” and added that the British journalist had “made enemies for writing on environmental issues”.
These statements, and his slowness in dealing with the disappearance of the journalist and the indigenista, have put the Brazilian Head of State in the crosshairs of human rights organizations, environmentalists and defenders of the press. It has also sparked concern in the British Parliament, which is collaborating with Brazilian authorities investigating the case.
With EFE, AP, Reuters and local media
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