Revisiting the Fourth Russel Tribunal on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of the Americas: Transnational Networks and the Indigenous People’s Movement in Brazil

Abstract

People’s Tribunals are collective actions that address rights violations still not formally recognized by the legal system. In November 1980, the Fourth Russell Tribunal, held in the Netherlands, brought together leading indigenous spokespersons from various American countries. The activity was named after previous experiences, such as the II Russel Tribunal, held in 1974, which addressed the political repression under military dictatorship. The discussion delves into the role of transnational networks in the emergence of an indigenous social movement in Brazil. The findings suggest that this process cannot be detached from its domestic context once it was embedded in the political process of the dictatorship and was shaped by the interactions between leading indigenous spokespersons and organizations, their non-indigenous allies, and opponents within and outside the state.