Brazil – ABRAPO: Update on the Struggle for Land in Rondônia
We hereby share an unofficial translation of a statement published by ABRAPO on October 8.
Reports, solidarity missions, protests, and news regarding the areas of Tiago Campin dos Santos and Ademar Ferreira (RO)
ABRAPO – the Brazilian Association of Lawyers of the People Gabriel Pimenta compiles on this page reports, news of protests, and complaints regarding the criminalization of the Peasant Movement and People’s Legal Aid in Rondônia, particularly in the peasant areas of Tiago Campin dos Santos and Ademar Ferreira, in Nova Mutum Paraná, district of Porto Velho, and on the case of people’s lawyer Lenir Correia Coelho.
Between October 25 and 27, 2021, human rights organizations carried out a Solidarity Mission to the two areas. During the mission, a preliminary injunction issued by the Supreme Federal Court (Complaint No. 50,084/RO, dated October 20, 2021) was in effect, suspending the eviction proceedings due to the lack of adequate shelter and housing arrangements for the families, as required by ADPF 828. The mission report, signed by CEBRASPO and ABRAPO on November 23, 2021, was released at a public event on December 9, 2021, in Porto Velho.
The news of the launch, released by ABRAPO and published by the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) on December 8, 2021, is reproduced below in its entirety. Since this is a text from 2021, the events announced therein have already taken place.
ORGANIZATIONS LAUNCH REPORT ON AGRARIAN CONFLICT AND THE CRIMINALIZATION OF THE PEASANTS’ STRUGGLE IN RONDÔNIA
The event will present a report on human rights violations in the peasant communities of Tiago Campin dos Santos and Ademar Ferreira, in the Nova Mutum-Paraná region of Porto Velho, and on the criminalization of the struggle for land in Rondônia. The event will also serve as an act of redress in response to police operations against the People’s lawyer Lenir Correia.
The National Human Rights Council and other organizations, at a meeting on agrarian conflicts in Rondônia, highlighted the need to carry out a Solidarity Mission in the peasant communities of Tiago Campin dos Santos and Ademar Ferreira. The mission took place from October 25 to 27, 2021, with the aim of hearing the complaints of local peasants, widely publicizing reports of the violations observed, and submitting a report on the situation to state agencies so that measures could be taken to guarantee these people’s rights. The following participated in the mission: ABRAPO – Brazilian Association of Lawyers of the People. Gabriel Pimenta; CEBRASPO – Brazilian Center for Solidarity with the Peoples; Human Rights Commission of the OAB-RO; External General Ombudsman’s Office of the Rondônia Public Defender’s Office; External Ombudsman’s Office of the Public Defender’s Office of the State of Acre; CPT – Pastoral Land Commission/RO and Press Office of the National CPT; National Human Rights Council – CNDH; Federal Prosecutor [sic] Raphael Luís Pereira Bevilaqua – Regional Office for Citizens’ Rights (PRDC) of the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office in RO; International Organization Lawyers Without Borders; Union of Construction Industry Workers of Belo Horizonte and the Region – MARRETA; National Executive Committee of Education Students – ExNEPe; BEM VIVER Group; RENAP – National Network of People’s Lawyers–RO; DCE – Federal University of Rondônia/UNIR; ANDES – National Union of Faculty Members at Higher Education Institutions; MOCLASPO – Class-Based Movement in Defense of People’s Health; UNIR Law Students; Faculty Members of the Federal University of Rondônia (UNIR) and the Federal Institute of Rondônia (IFRO), as well as journalists and correspondents from national media outlets.
As a result of this Mission’s activities, a report was prepared detailing the situation in the Tiago Campin dos Santos and Ademar Ferreira peasant communities, highlighting the violence suffered by the peasants during the enforcement of the preliminary injunction for reinstatement of possession. The report condemns the state of Rondônia for failing to comply with the Supreme Federal Court (STF) and for maintaining a police siege against the peasants to this day; it demands an investigation into and punishment for the acts of violence committed by military forces holds the state of Rondônia responsible for the growing criminalization of peasants fighting for access to land and for the murders of peasants that occurred in 2021 in the aforementioned areas of agrarian conflict, and demands punishment for the perpetrators.
The PUBLIC EVENT to launch the report will feature other recent allegations of violations of the rights of peasants and their lawyers, such as the case of the search and seizure against public defender Lenir Correia Coelho. The event will take place on December 9, 2021 (Thursday) at 3:30 p.m. in the UNIR-CENTRO auditorium (Av. Pres. Dutra, 2965, Centro, Porto Velho – RO). Following the release of the report, a PRESS CONFERENCE will take place at 5:30 p.m., during which the various organizations in attendance will have the opportunity to speak about the work carried out by the Solidarity Mission and other actions aimed at criminalizing the struggle for land in Rondônia.
There will also be a second event, to be held on December 14, 2021, at 6:00 p.m., at the Rio de Janeiro Journalists’ Union, and will feature Dr. Lenir and various organizations that formed the Mission.
Source: Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), December 8, 2021, via ABRAPO cptnacional.org.br https://cptnacional.org.br/2021/12/08/entidades-realizam-lancamento-de-relatorio-sobre-conito-agrario-e-criminalizacao-da-luta-camponesa-em-rondonia/
The Case Before the Federal Supreme Court
On June 8, 2022, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) upheld Complaint No. 50,084/RO, with Justice Cármen Lúcia serving as the reporting judge, and overturned the eviction order issued by the 7th Civil Court of Porto Velho. The decision stipulated that any new order must comply with the conditions set forth in ADPF 828 and ensure that the occupants are taken to public shelters or to a location that provides them with adequate housing conditions. It further warned that the excessive and disproportionate use of police force in the execution of any future eviction order could result in liability for the public officials involved.
With the resumption of measures to enforce the eviction without an in-person technical inspection of the community and without an effective attempt at mediation, Complaint No. 81,238/RO was filed. In 2026, Justice Cármen Lúcia dismissed the new complaint, finding that the requested safeguards were already ensured by the decision in Complaint 50,084. The justice reiterated, however, as part of mandatory judicial enforcement, that the use of force to vacate the property is prohibited and that no person may be displaced without first identifying suitable locations to which they will be relocated. The decision also noted that the National Council of Justice was informed of evidence of noncompliance with CNJ Resolution No. 510/2023 by the Court of Justice of Rondônia, as of from the mission report of the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Family Farming conducted in November 2025.
Documents
We also reproduce the documents below. In the reports and the note, the faces of children, adolescents, and other people photographed have been blurred, and the first page of each file indicates the changes made compared to the original.
CEBRASPO Note “Rondônia Government Prepares New Massacre of Peasants” (October
2021) – a complaint, filed prior to the mission, regarding the new eviction order against the
Tiago Campin dos Santos Camp.
Report of the Solidarity Mission to the Tiago Campin dos Santos and Ademar Ferreira Areas (CEBRASPO and ABRAPO, November 23, 2021).
Report on the attack on the Tiago Campin dos Santos Camp on January 28,
2023 (Lenir Correia Coelho – ABRAPO, January 31, 2023). Warning: contains sensitive images,
published with the permission of the victim’s family.
Video from the Solidarity Mission (A Nova Democracia). [Can be found in the original article]
Preliminary injunction by the STF in Complaint 50.084/RO (Justice Cármen Lúcia, October 20, 2021), which suspended the eviction proceedings against the families of the Tiago Campin dos Santos Camp.
https://www.abrapo.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/CAUTELAR-RECLAMACAO-50.084-RONDONIA-1.pdf
Supreme Federal Court (STF) decision on the merits in Complaint 50.084/RO (Justice Cármen Lúcia, June 8, 2022), which upheld the complaint and quashed the order for repossession.
https://www.abrapo.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/RECLAMACAO-50.084-RONDONIA-1.pdf
Supreme Federal Court (STF) Decision in Complaint 81.238/RO (Justice Cármen Lúcia, 2026), which reaffirms the prohibition on the use of force and the removal of families without a previously defined destination and notes the National Council of Justice’s (CNJ) awareness of evidence of noncompliance with CNJ Resolution No. 510/2023.
https://www.abrapo.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/RECLAMACAO-81.238-RONDONIA-1.pdf
ABRAPO reaffirms that it will continue to defend the peasants and public interest lawyers persecuted in Rondônia and to denounce the criminalization of the Peasant Movement and public interest law.
DOWN WITH THE CRIMINALIZATION OF THE PEASANT MOVEMENT IN RONDÔNIA!
AGAINST THE CRIMINALIZATION OF PUBLIC INTEREST LAW!
FREEDOM FOR DR. LENIR CORREIA COELHO!
