Call n° 281 (From 15 March to 30 May 2005)

BRAZIL - PARÁ, NO END TO IMPUNITY

In the state of Pará in northern Brazil it is still very difficult to have hired killers brought to trial, sentenced, and kept behind bars. Wealthy landowners have clearly opted for provocation and confrontation in an attempt to neutralize a land reform paralysed by stringent economic constraints on the country’s agricultural policy. Today we are witnessing a new upsurge of violence against peasant leaders and human rights activists. Even though President Lula is responsible for land policy, the State of Pará has its own independent judiciary and police. Measures to protect threatened activists are therefore unlikely to match the killers’ determination. It is essential for the judicial authorities to fulfil their function, to act as a dissuasion against new crimes.

On 12 February 2005 in Anapu in northern Pará, Dorothy Stang, a 74-year old US nun with British citizenship, was on her way home from a meeting with landless peasants when she was shot dead by pistoleiros [1].

“She is responsible for her own death”, the representative of wealthy landowners in the State of Amazon in northern Brazil coldly commented. “In twenty years she constantly gave us problems. She attracted hatred by repeatedly encouraging landless peasants to occupy land”.

In the days following the nun’s murder, two rural labourers were killed in Anapu and a trade unionist in Parauapebas in the same region.

THE STRATEGY OF VIOLENCE

These new murders are related to a large number of particularly violent conflicts in the State of Pará, which stem from the structure of land ownership in Brazil. Over 43% of the land suitable for cultivation is owned by 1% of the population, while less than 3% is owned by peasants. Most large estates are under-exploited while poor peasants don’t have enough to survive. Land redistribution was part of President Lula’s programme when he was elected in 2002, but this former trade unionist’s land reform soon proved to be inadequate. More and more large farms have been occupied by peasants in protest against the failure of the reform. The situation is extremely tense: in the north of the country tension is mounting and violence escalating due to President Lula’s environmental programme in Amazonia to save the forest. This programme clashes with the interests of those who, in dubious conditions, obtained concessions in the Amazon forest in 5,000-hectare batches.

As usual, in the State of Pará the identities of the murderers and those behind them are known, but they all enjoy impunity, which is particularly worrying:
- José Sérafim Sales, sentenced to 25 years in jail for murdering João Canuto, escaped in 2000;
- Ubiratan Ubirajara, sentenced to 50 years in jail for murdering Paul and Jean Canuto, escaped from the same jail in 1995;
- the rich rural landowner Jéronimo Alves de Amorim, who was behind the murder of trade unionist Expedito Ribeiro de Souza and was sentenced in 2000 to 19 years’ imprisonment, served two years of his sentence under house arrest for health reasons. Moreover, his sentence was reduced in early 2004.
- Adilson Carvalho Laranjeira, ex-mayor of Rio Maria, and a farmer, Vantuir Gonzalves de Paula, sentenced in May 2003 by the Belem court to 19 years in jail for commanding the assassination of João Canuto, have appealed. In accordance with Brazilian law, they are free until the trial is over. Yet in September 2004 the court unanimously rejected this appeal. The two men subsequently lodged several appeals with the High Court and the Federal Court. To date, these appeals are still pending. Nearly two years after being sentenced, the two men are still moving around freely with the Rio Maria city authority’s approval.

PUTTING AN END TO IMPUNITY

The fact that the murderers and those behind them have enjoyed impunity in all these affairs is a form of protection for Sister Dorothy’s murderers and encouragement for anyone planning to kill other union leaders and human rights activists.

The emotion triggered by Dorothy Stang’s death spurred the Brazilian government into action, and President Lula has taken the threats by large landowner organizations very seriously. The two suspected murderers of the US missionary have been arrested, and the Federal government has sent 2,000 soldiers to the state of Pará along with a force to protect people who have received death threats. International pressure has to be put on Brazil’s judicial authorities to ensure that justice is done.

The Rio Maria Committee has asked us to appeal to the Federal Prosecutor for Citizen’s Rights because when the appeals are received in Brasilia she will be in the best position to defend them.

THE RIO MARIA COMMITTEE

For many years the Rio Maria Committee has been doing exemplary work, for which it is internationally renowned. Peasant unionists, rural lawyers and the Catholic Church work hand in hand on the committee.

On 10 December 1998 Luzia Canuto, João Canuto’s daughter and current chairman of the Committee, received France’s Human Rights Award.

Réseau-Solidarité is part of this vast support movement and has relayed 14 calls from the Rio Maria Committee since 1991. The most recent were:
- Between justice and fear (06/1993)
- The committee in the line of sight (04/1998)
- Trial at a standstill in the Canuto Affair (03/1999)
- Judging and applying sentences (09/1999)
- Police torturers (09/2000) _- Lawyers threatened (03/2001)
- Expected trial at Belem (05/2003)

Books
Terres violentes du Brésil - Chronique de Rio Maria
By Ricardo Rezende (Ed. Karthala)
Frère Henri Burin des Roziers
By Bernadette Toreto (Ed. LeSeuil)

A site : www.riomaria.org

WHAT TO DO?

By letter: cut and paste the standard letter below or use your own wording. Send your letter to the address indicated below and remember to add your own address and to sign your letter.
Fax: 006130316106
Deadline: as soon as you receive this call and not later than end May 2005.

LETTER

Dra. Ela Wiecko Volkner de Castilho
Procuradora Federal dos Direitos do Cidadćo
SAF Sul Qd 4 Conj C
70050-900 Brasilia DF
BRESIL

Senhora,

O assassinato da Irmć Dorothy, em Anapu, oeste do Parį, em 12.02.05, revela mais uma vez a trįgica conseqüźncia da impunidade dos fazendeiros nos conflitos de terra. Por isso queremos manifestar ao Sr nossa grande preocupaēćo com a morosidade do andamento dos recursos contra a sentenēa condenatória, impetrados pelos dois mandantes do assassinato do lķder sindical de Rio Maria, Joćo Canuto de Oliveira.

A impunidade dos mandantes do assassinato do sindicalista Joćo Canuto, resultado da morosidade da Justiēa do Estado do Parį, é uma seguranēa para os assassinos de Irmć Dorothy e para aqueles que se preparam a realizar outros assassinatos de lideranēas sindicais e defensores dos Direitos Humanos.

Por isso é urgente de reverter esse clima de impunidade e que os recursos de Adilson Laranjeira e Vantuir de Paula sejam julgados o quanto antes.

Atenciosamente

Traduction

Madame,

L’assassinat de soeur Dorothy, à Anapu, à l’ouest de l’État du Pará, le 12 février 2005, révèle une fois de plus la tragique conséquence de l’impunité des grands propriétaires ruraux dans les conflits de la terre. C’est pourquoi nous tenons à vous manifester notre grande préoccupation en ce qui concerne la lenteur de la marche des recours en justice, faits par les deux commanditaires de l’assassinat du syndicaliste João Canuto de Oliveira, contre la sentence les ayant condamnés.

L’impunité des commanditaires de l’assassinat du syndicaliste João Canuto, conséquence de la lenteur de la Justice de l’État du Pará, est une protection pour les assassins de soeur Dorothy et pour ceux qui se préparent à réaliser d’autres assassinats de responsables syndicaux et de défenseurs des Droits de l’Homme.

C’est pourquoi il est indispensable de mettre un terme de toute urgence à ce climat d’impunité et que les recours d’Adilson Laranjeira et de Vantuir de Paula soient jugés le plus rapidement possible.

Respectueusement

English translation

Dra. Ela Wiecko Volkner de Castilho
Procuradora Federal dos Direitos do
Cidadćo
SAF Sul Qd 4 Conj C
70050-900 Brasilia DF
Brazil

Dear Madam

Sister Dorothy’s murder on 12 February 2005 in Anapu, Pará State, once again reveals the tragic consequences of the impunity enjoyed by wealthy rural landowners in land-related conflicts. That is why I wish to inform you of my profound concern regarding the slowness of the courts in the appeal cases of the two men behind the murder of trade unionist João Canuto de Oliveira.

The impunity resulting from the Pará judicial system’s slowness is helping to protect Sister Dorothy’s murderers and those who are planning to kill other union leaders and human rights activists.

That is why it is essential to put an end to this climate of impunity as a matter of urgency and to ensure that the appeal cases of Adilson Laranjeira and Vantuir de Paula are judged without delay.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Yours faithfully,

[1] hired killers