Association of Survivors of the Quilombo Communities on Marambaia Island (Arqimar)

ARQIMAR’s mission is to promote the welfare and social, moral and material progress of the residents of the Marambaia Island Quilombo (1), representing the community interests and defending the right to collective titling of their land and to a quilombo identity, through the promotion of political and cultural activities and partnerships with other organizations for the legal monitoring and clarification of legal procedures to the Island’s residents.

Among the activities already undertaken by the organization are regular meetings with quilombo community members to think about actions for the recognition and titling of their land; monitoring of the violations of rights committed by military personnel against the quilombo population; complaints of these violations to federal prosecutors and government bodies, such as Sepir – Secretariat for the Promotion of Racial Equality; as well as liaison with other organizations that advise quilombo communities for monitoring military investigation procedures and lawsuits in which the community is the defendant.

Project

Through educational workshops on human rights, with emphasis on the rights of the quilombo communities, and meetings with government representatives, the organization intends to disseminate information and prevent the expulsion of the quilombo communities from Marambaia Island, in Mangalore, in Rio.

The quilombo community of Marambaia Island suffers constraints of their rights due to the omission of the Brazilian State in titling their lands, and the lawsuits and extra-judicial proceedings promoted by Brazil’s Navy, administrator of the region, represented in court by the Federal Government, with the aim of expelling the quilombo residents from the island.

The group suffers from the prohibition on planting, fishing, construction, expansion and renovation of houses, transportation to the continent independent of the Navy, privacy in correspondences and many procedures of military investigation conducted by the Navy (military investigation procedures) in which the participation of the quilombo community is constantly requested, without them being aware of exactly what these investigations are about.

With the support of the Brazil Fund, the association will also promote legal advice and monitoring of legal procedures in progress.

(1) Quilombos are centuries-old communities set up by former slaves in Brazil. “The contemporary concept of the remaining communities of quilombos encompasses the prevalence of an autonomous process of production within the communities, based on specific territorialities socially established as a result of acts of resistance.” (ALMEIDA, Alfredo Wagner. ‘Os quilobolas e a Base de Lançamentos de Foguetes de Alcântara’. Ministry of Environment, Brasília, 2006.)