Newsletter n. 753
– Demonstrations are held in defense of the Amazon region and to remind authorities that two years have gone by since Sister Dorothy was murdered
– Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe people will go to Brasília in search of a solution to land conflicts
DEMONSTRATIONS ARE HELD IN DEFENSE OF THE AMAZON REGION AND TO REMIND AUTHORITIES THAT TWO YEARS HAVE GONE BY SINCE SISTER DOROTHY WAS MURDERED
Between February 9 and 12, different social movements staged demonstrations in defense of the Amazon region and against impunity, reminding authorities that two years have gone by since Sister Dorothy Stang was murdered, on February 12, 2005, in Anapu, state of Pará. The demonstrations ended with a hearing granted by the governor of the state, Ana Júlia Carepa.
In Belém, the capital of the state of Pará, the demonstrations began on the 9th with the seminar ‘Building Community Alternatives for the Amazon Region.’ On Sunday, the 11th, donations were collected for the Carlos Prestes camp of the Landless Movement in celebrations held in different Christian churches.
In the morning of the 12th, an ecumenical celebration was held which brought together about 100 people in front of the Court of Justice of the state of Pará. In the afternoon, governor Ana Júlia Carepa convened her secretaries and received representatives of Cimi, of the Land Pastoral Commission, of the Movement of People Affected by Dams, of the Dorothy Stang Committee, and of others organizations. Senator José Nery (PSol Party – state of Pará) and representatives of Incra, Ibama, and the Federal Police also attended the meeting.
During the meeting, a document was delivered to the governor describing the yearnings of social movements in relation to the environment, the land reform, and human rights. The organizations requested protection for threatened people and an investigation into consortia which have been financing murders of human rights supporters. They also urged authorities to fight slave labor diligently and to take steps to ensure the regularization of land areas in the state, which can reduce the conflicts in rural areas. The movements suggested that the federal administration and state governments should act jointly.
In Anapu, the municipality in which the missionary used to work, Father Erwin Kräutler, the bishop of Xingu and president of Cimi, celebrated a mass on the 11th. In his homily, he recalled that the murder of Sister Dorothy was not an isolated fact. “It was just another bloody event in the Amazon region caused by land grabbing practices, by the deliberate and planned destruction of this region, by the devastating exploitation of its riches, and by those who want to continue to exploit slave labor.” The 12th was declared an official holiday in Anapu by the mayor of the city, who before the crime used to say that Sister Dorothy was a persona non grata there.
In other municipalities in the states of Pará, Maranhão, Ceará and others, demonstrations were also staged in memory of Sister Dorothy.
Murder
Sister Dorothy Stang died after being shot seven times when she was 73 years old in the morning of February 12, 2005 on a remote dirt road at 53 kilometers from the central area of the municipality of Anapu.
Three of the five people accused of having killed the Brazilian-naturalized American missionary have been convicted already. The trial of the two people who are believed to have hired the killers has not been scheduled yet. Farmer Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura, known as Bida, is in prison. The other defendant, farmer Regivaldo Galvão, known as Taradão, is free pending trial.
PATAXÓ HÃ-HÃ-HÃE PEOPLE WILL GO TO BRASÍLIA IN SEARCH OF A SOLUTION TO LAND CONFLICTS
A group of 15 Pataxó Hã-hã-hãe is in Brasília seeking a solution to legal proceedings that affect the lands of these people. Legal decisions have forced the Hã-Hã-Hãe the leave areas that they reoccupied in their traditional territory, located in the south region of the state of Bahia, which was invaded by farmers. The lack of a final solution has been creating conflicts in the region, such as one in which an indigenous person was shot late in January.
On Friday (February 16), the group will have a meeting with the chief justice of the federal court of appeals of the 1st region, justice Assusete Magalhães, to discuss a lawsuit for suspending preliminary orders issued in connection with three farms which were reoccupied in December (California, Bonanza and Ibirapitanga). They have a deadline of 15 days from today (expiring on February 15) to leave those areas. The indigenous leaders say that confrontations could occur with fatal consequences if the preliminary order is enforced within this deadline.
The Pataxó Hã-hã-hãe will ask the justice to suspend the preliminary orders until the Supreme Court (STF) judges a lawsuit requesting the annulment of title deeds issued to farmers who have occupied their land. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office has already issued an opinion in favor of suspending the preliminary orders.
Today (February 15), the Pataxó Hã-hã-hãe will have a meeting with the Federal Attorney General, Álvaro Ribeiro, to discuss the lawsuit for nullifying the title deeds mentioned above, which was referred to the Supreme Court 25 years ago. All that is left now is for associate judge Eros Grao, the rapporteur of the proceedings, to take a position in relation to the lawsuit. Today in the morning, the group had a meeting with the acting president of the National Foundation for Indigenous People (Funai) and advisors of the agency to request them to take measures in relation to the situation in the area in question.
Context – The land of the Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe people was demarcated in 1937 by the Protection Service for Indigenous People (SPI), which was the official indigenous agency back then. In the 1940s, the same SPI began to lease these indigenous lands illegally and in 1976 the government of the state of Bahia issued title deeds to these lands to farmers. In 1982, the Pataxó organized themselves and began to reoccupy their invaded lands. In the same year, Funai asked the Supreme Court (STF) to annul the title deeds issued by the state of Bahia.
Brasília, February 15, 2006
Indianist Missionary Council
