Survival will hold a worldwide demonstration on December 10 to urge Brazil, on Human Rights Day, to save Earth’s most threatened tribe. A woman in Brazilian carnival costume will lead the protests by standing outside London?’s Brazilian Embassy, carrying a clear message for the Latin American government. Her body will be painted with the demand: ?Brazil: Save the Awá?.
Protesters will join the London demonstration, wearing T-shirts and holding placards emblazoned with identical stencils repeating this message.Survival will also hand a letter into the Brazilian Embassy, calling for the urgent removal of invaders from Awá land, and a ‘protection plan which will enable them to live in peace and security.’
Protest action will be taken across Europe by Survival, in the cities of Berlin, Paris, Madrid, Rome and Amsterdam, as well as San Francisco in America. Almost 50,000 people have written to Brazil’s Justice Minister since Survival and Oscar-winning actor Colin Firth launched a campaign to save the tribe. Supporters are calling for Brazil to stop illegal land invasion inside the tribe’s officially demarcated territory.
However, despite this strong groundswell of public support, nearly 8 months on from the launch no clear action has been taken by the Brazilian authorities. The Awá have reacted by saying, ‘Very good, non-Indians, what you’re doing is really important, and really good! Help us as fast as you can.’ The worsening conditions recently prompted the Awá to take the unprecedented step of traveling to Brazil’s capital to hold meetings, and protest.
Survival International’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘Next week’s international demonstration on UN Human Rights Day will show Brazil that the world is watching and waiting for it to ‘Save the Awá’. It’s unforgivable that the government can allow human rights violations against the tribe to continue for so long. Tens of thousands of people in Brazil and around the world are calling on it to help the Awá – it must act now.’
