June 14, 2022

Where are Bruno and Dom? Another tragedy in the Amazon

topic:	Freedom of Expression
located:	Brazil
editor:	Ellen Nemitz

The disappearance of the English journalist Dom Phillips and the Brazilian indigenous expert Bruno Araújo Pereira during an expedition to the Amazon rainforest has mobilised the world over the past few days. Dom and Bruno have been missing since 5 June after arriving in a remote region of the Amazon near the Javari Valley - close to the border with Peru. Phillips was a well known journalist working for The Guardian and other news outlets and covered issues related to the Amazon in a very passionate and dedicated way. Pereira was an employee at Funai - the national official body for indigenous affairs - and a supporter of indigenous peoples' rights. 

After corpses were found in the same region, as well as personal belongings supposedly from Dom and Bruno, the deaths were even announced by Phillips' wife, Alessandra; until this article's final writing, however, the identities of the corpses have not been confirmed by the police nor by the indigenous leaders assisting in the rescue operation - throughout Monday, information was inconclusive and changed in a matter of just an hour, following rumours and official notes. 

Their deaths, if confirmed, are probably the result of a violent attack, since there were previous threats from criminals such as illegal loggers, miners and fishermen; one man has been detained as a suspect, but there are countless questions yet to be pursued. For now, aside from the presumed deaths, all we know is how much love these two men have gathered both in the country and abroad. 

On Sunday 12 June, in Brazil, marches were convened in at least three cities (Rio de Janeiro, Belém and Brasilia). Moreover, indigenous communities in the Amazon have carried out demonstrations demanding justice. Editors and journalists worldwide also joined the chorus to demand the location of Dom and Bruno. Likewise, politicians and public figures requested the Brazilian government to put all necessary efforts into searches for the two missing men, echoed by global institutions such as Amnesty International and Survival International. 

During a Pulitzer Centre’s Annual Conference, the journalist Eliane Brum said that working and living in the Amazon is a dangerous task since Jair Bolsonaro took office, three years ago, and pled for a hurry in the searches, since every second can make the difference between life and death in the middle of the forest. "Today, being a journalist in the Amazon means not only denouncing violence, but helping to build protective networks and set them into motion to prevent more bloodshed. This is a war," she said, adding that "A line has just been crossed in the Amazon, shifting the war to another level of violence, for us journalists as well."

We join all the voices to ask: where are Bruno and Dom? How and why did they disappear? Are they alive and, if not, who killed them? Answers to these questions are a demand of an entire community of those who care about the Amazon and about people who live there or work for its protection. FairPlanet stands with Dom, Bruno, indigenous peoples and the Amazon. No crime should go unpunished.

Editor's Update: on 15 June, Don Phillips' wife released a statement to confirm that, most probably, the bodies found are those of Bruno and Tom. Justice must be served for the brutal murders of two pioneer explorers and defenders of nature.

Photo by Felipe Archer

Call to Action

Protect Brazilian journalists

Support now