Brazilian indigenous peoples gather as the Supreme Court on weighing the constitutionality of laws to limit the ability of Indigenous peoples to win protected status for ancestral lands, in Brasilia, Brazil August 30, 2023.
REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBRASILIA, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Brazil's Supreme Court is expected to rule next week against attempts by the country's powerful farm lobby to limit land claims by Indigenous peoples to areas they occupied before 1988.
Lawyers and Indigenous rights advocates believe a majority of the nine-member court will vote by Wednesday to reject the date restriction on the grounds it is unconstitutional.
Congress has pushed ahead with bills allowing Indigenous reservations only on land that was occupied by native communities when Brazil passed its Constitution in 1988.
Indigenous leaders say the Supreme Court decision is vital for the resolution of some 300 pending land recognition claims that would protect their communities from land-grabbers and invasions by illegal loggers and wildcat gold miners.
Persons:
Adriano Machado, Juliana de Paula, Cristiano Zanin, Zanin, Anthony Boadle, Cynthia Osterman, Simon Cameron, Moore
Organizations:
REUTERS, Rights, Environmental, ISA, Thomson
Locations:
Brasilia, Brazil, Rights BRASILIA, Santa Catarina