On October 17, 2011, a Brazilian federal judge ruled that the controversial Belo Monte Dam licenses are illegal and should be revoked since the Brazilian government did not hold proper consultations with Indigenous communities that would be affected by the project. Judge Selene Maria de Almeida argued that the project's diversion of the Xingu River will directly impact Indigenous people's physical, cultural, and economic livelihoods. The judge also argued that the the Brazilian Congress and executive branch are not complying with the Brazilian Constitution and not implementing their commitment to the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and ILO Convention 169.
