Dom Phillips, a British journalist, and Bruno Pereira, a Brazilian expert on indigenous people, were killed while doing investigative work in a remote corner of the Amazon in early June | Art: Cris Vector/Used with permission Ten days after British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira were reported missing on June 5 while doing investigative and reporting work in the Javari Valley, a remote corner of the Brazilian Amazon, the Brazilian Federal Police confirmed that a man arrested during the investigation confessed to the murders of both men and indicated the place where the bodies were found. Amarildo Oliveira da Costa, known as “Pelado” (a nickname that directly translates to naked in Portuguese), a fisherman who lives in the region, was arrested with his brother, Oseney da Costa Oliveira, known as Dos Santos, in relation to the case. Pelado told the police he helped to bury the bodies of both men, but another person was responsible for killing them. According to the investigation conducted by the Civil Police in the Amazonas state, the motivation for the killings is likely due to the fact that Pereira was “getting in the way” of Pelado's business, with reports of illegal fishing within the Indigenous territory, as reported by Agência Pública. While the Federal Police dismissed suggestions that the killings were carried out upon orders from organized crime, the Indigenous People Union of the Javari Valley, Univaja, the main Indigenous entity in the region, insists that a probe must continue to answer all the questions raised in the case. The Indigenous group published a statement claiming the investigation is not taking into consideration the reports they sent to authorities in late 2021. The cruelty employed in the practice of the crime shows that both Pereira and Phillips were in the tracks of a powerful criminal organization that tried to hide their trails at every cost during the investigation (…) We demand the continuation and deepening of the investigations. According to Univaja, the material submitted shows the existence of “an organized criminal group acting in constant invasions to the Indigenous Land of Javari Valley,” with professional hunters and fishermen linked to narcos. At least two of the three locals arrested for the killings of Phillips and Pereira were listed as associates of this criminal group in the previous Univaja report sent to authorities. The reports included the names of invaders who are the members of the criminal group, how they operate, and what kind of transportation they use. As of June 19, three people had been arrested for involvement in the murders and the Federal Police said it had five other suspects under investigation, reported the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo. In a previous statement, Univaja also stated that the “case is not over yet” and qualified the murders as a political crime. Brazilian journalist André Trigueiro questioned: Confiaram nos indígenas p/orientar as buscas de Bruno e Dom, mas desprezaram as denúncias dos mesmos indígenas quando encerraram subitamente as investigações sobre eventuais mandantes ou participação de organizações criminosas. Como assim, @policiafederal ? #JusticaParaDomEBruno — André Trigueiro (@andretrig) June 18, 2022 They trusted the Indigenous people to guide the searches for Dom and Bruno, but undermine the complaints made by the same Indigenous people when suddenly closing the investigations on eventual intellectual authors or criminal organizations involvement. How is that, Federal Police? Phillips and Pereira bonded over their shared love for the rainforest and had traveled together through the region before, as reported by The Guardian, where Phillips was a frequent contributor. This time, he was there to research for a book he was writing, with Pereira once again as his guide. After conducting interviews in Atalaia do Norte in Amazonas state on June 5, they took a two-hour boat trip along the Itaquaí river which turned into a mystery. On June 15, their deaths were confirmed by Brazilian authorities. The Javari Valley has the highest number of isolated Indigenous peoples recorded in the world, and a demarcated territory of 85,445 square kilometers (larger than Austria), one of the largest Indigenous territories in Brazil. It's located in the westernmost part of the country, near the border with Peru and Colombia. Targeted with invasions and environmental crimes, Indigenous peoples living there formed the Univaja to protect these territories and the rainforest and to denounce invaders to the authorities. Their aim is to protect over 8.5 million hectares of forest — more or less the size of 8.5 million football fields.