Landmark Brazilian case to define Indians' land rights
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The Brazilian Supreme Court has begun hearing a landmark case to define Indians' rights to their land.
The court must decide whether native Indians have to share a reserve of 17,000 square kilometres with non-indigenous rice farmers.
In 2005, Brazil demarcated the northern Raposa Serra do Sol region as indigenous territory.
But several hundred non-indigenous farmers have refused to leave, saying they have a rightful claim to the land.
About 19,000 of Brazil's 1 million indigenous people live in the area and they say the court is obliged to confirm the demarcation and deter illegal loggers and land-grabbers.
The decision will also be a legal precedent for 144 other native land cases.
