RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) 鈥 A year after the killing of British journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira in the Amazon rainforest, friends, colleagues and family members gathered Monday in several Brazilian cities to honor their memory and pledge to carry forward their work.
Dozens of people showed up at demonstrations in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Brazil's capital and Bahia state's Salvador. Gatherings also took place in London and Atalaia do Norte, a small Amazon town that is the launching-off point for the remote, sprawling Javari Valley Indigenous territory. Just outside that territory, the men .
In Brasilia, dozens of public servants, Indigenous people and university students gathered for a discussion paying homage to Phillips and Pereira at the University of Brasilia.
Pereira鈥檚 daughter was also among them. Environment Minister Marina Silva and the president of the nation鈥檚 Indigenous affairs agency, Joenia Wapichana, joined the group, which sat in a circle on the floor of an Indigenous-inspired auditorium.
Phillips , 鈥淗ow to Save the Amazon: Ask the People Who Know,鈥 which was years in the making. In 2021, he secured a yearlong fellowship with the Alicia Patterson Foundation to write it and, by the time of his death, had completed nearly half.
A main line of police investigation points to that pays poor fishermen to fish illegally in Indigenous territory.
At the end of Rio de Janeiro鈥檚 Copacabana beach, loved ones on Monday held posters featuring the now-iconic image of the duo set before an orange backdrop, which over the past year has often been displayed at concerts and political rallies and posted on social media. The group swapped hugs and kind words before posing for a photo.
鈥淒om and Bruno, present!鈥 Alessandra Sampaio, Phillips鈥 widow, shouted while raising her fist in the air, prompting the others to do the same.
鈥淚 am very revolted. I try not to focus on that, I try to move forward and do what I can in the name of Dom and in favor of conservation,鈥 Sampaio said.
Phillips had been reporting on the complex dynamics playing out in the region, where trespassers often enter the protected Indigenous reserves to hunt and fish. He was navigating with and acted as Phillips' guide. It was to be one of his final reporting trips for his book.
Ahead of the first anniversary of Phillips' disappearance, his family and friends have launched a fundraiser to complete his work.
A group of journalists from The Guardian, where Phillips regularly contributed as a freelancer, The New Yorker, The Intercept Brazil and Brazilian publications Amaz么nia Real and Suma煤ma will be writing the remaining chapters. Others from the Associated Press, the New York Times or the BBC have offered to help with proof-reading and fact-checking.
鈥淒om was killed for this book. The least we can do is finish the task to which he had devoted the latter part of his life," Jonathan Watts, the Guardian鈥檚 global environment writer, said in a statement. "He may be gone, but he won鈥檛 be silenced.鈥
Pereira dedicated his career to helping Indigenous people protect their natural resources and traditional lifestyles. He long worked as an expert at the Brazilian Indigenous affairs agency, known as FUNAI. Under former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, whose administration unapologetically promoted development over environmental protection, Pereira had left the agency and embarked on a more independent .
鈥淏runo and Dom deserved, and should have been here today," President Luiz In谩cio Lula da Silva said Monday at an event celebrating World Environment Day, also attended by the men's widows. Their 鈥渂rutal murder shocked the world that came to see the Amazon as a lawless land.鈥
On Thursday, the documentary 鈥淰alley of the Isolated Ones鈥 by television network Globo premiered in Rio. The film showcased previously unreleased footage recovered from Pereira鈥檚 cellphone, found in the rainforest months after the crime and retraced the journey of the Indigenous expert in the region.
鈥淭his film is a way to honor Bruno鈥檚 work in defending our families and our people. Bruno and Dom died in the name of our families,鈥 Indigenous leader Eliesio Marubo said to the audience. 鈥淲e will continue everything we were doing along with Bruno to strengthen not only his story, his fight, his legacy but also to say that we still exist with the same problems we had before they were killed.鈥
Speaking at the event beside Copacabana beach on Monday, Beto Marubo 鈥 a member of the same ethnic group who is also part of the local Indigenous organization in the Javari Valley 鈥 said there must be coordinated planning and action across all government authorities in the area to protect the rainforest and its people, as well as rebuilding of equipment and infrastructure.
In a remote region where crimes often go unsolved, there have been advances in seeking justice. Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira and Jeferson da Silva Lima, two local fishermen, have confessed to the killings and are in prison awaiting trial. A Colombian businessman, Rubens Villar Coelho, stands accused of masterminding the crime, and is also in custody. He denies any involvement in the killings. But there have been questions .
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AP reporters Fabiano Maisonnave and Mario Lob茫o contributed to this story from Rio de Janeiro. Carla Bridi contributed from Brasilia.
