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After days of national and international mobilization, the anxiety over the search for the indigenous activist Bruno Araújo Pereira and the English journalist Dom Phillips gave way to pain and revolt over the barbaric crime that happened. On Wednesday, June 15, the Federal Police (PF) in Amazonas confirmed that Amarildo da Costa Oliveira, known as "Pelado", confessed to have murdered Bruno and Dom. Amarildo's brother, Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, known as "Dos Santos", is also under arrest. According to the Federal Police, new arrests may still happen. The investigations must continue!

While the world was demanding agility, urgency and more efforts from the Brazilian authorities to locate and search for the couple, what we saw was a lack of preparation from those who should be committed to solving the disappearance. President Jair Bolsonaro even used rhetoric to blame the victims for the event, "This Englishman was not well seen in the region because he wrote a lot of articles against miners, environmental issues ..." he said in an interview.

From the first moment, more than 100 indigenous people from 5 ethnic groups (Marubos, Maiurunas, Matis, Kulinas and Kanamaris) started the search for Bruno and Dom, their allies. The omission of the Brazilian state in the region of Vale do Javari gains another shameful chapter in history. Brazil is the 4th country that kills the most environmental activists, according to a report by the NGO Global Witness. There are several threats faced by those who protect the environment and the people who live in it. THIS MUST STOP IMMEDIATELY!

The slow and inadequate response of the authorities has generated suspicions of connivance on the part of those who have the obligation to watch over the security of the Brazilian territory. And they increase the anguish and sadness of those who wait for justice, at a tragic moment in the Amazon, amidst the destruction of the forest and threats against indigenous people, indigenists, journalists, and other forest peoples.

The murder of Bruno and Dom cannot go unpunished and many answers still need to be provided by the Brazilian authorities. We therefore demand:

a) that all the culprits, intellectuals and principals, be identified, tried, and made responsible.

b) that the lawyers of the victims' families have access to information about the investigations, a fact denied until now.

FOR JUSTICE, WE CONTINUE!

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Jorge and Denis

Note: Petition updated on 16.06