13/02/2006 - International
— One year since the violent death of Sister
Dorothy at the hands of hired gunmen in
the Amazon, little has changed for the rural
workers and activists trying to protect
the rainforest from ranchers, landgrabbers
and loggers.
At a memorial in the remote rural area in
the Amazon where Sister Dorothy lived and
worked, Greenpeace activists, community
people, and other environmental and human
rights advocates planted white crosses for
each rural worker who has been assassinated
in land conflicts over the last 33 years
in the Amazon state of Pará alone.
They erected red crosses for every community
leader currently under a death threat in
the state.
By the end of their labours, there were
772 white and 48 red crosses at the site.
Pará state in the Amazon is one
of the most violent areas in the world where
disputes are routinely settled with weapons.
At 72 years old and a veteran of more than
30 years of activism, Sister Dorothy Stang
was no stranger to the dangers of her work,
and she had been threatened many times.
On the morning of February 12th last year,
she was shot six times by Rayfran das Neves
with his accomplice, Clodoaldo Batista.
The two gunmen have since received sentences
of 27 and 17 years of prison, respectively,
for her murder. The two landowners accused
of ordering the murder have managed to postpone
their trials through judicial appeals.
72-year-old American missionary Sister Dorothy
Stang was assassinated on 12 February 2005
for her work in defending the Amazon and
rural workers.
At the time of her death, Sister Dorothy
was working to create sustainable development
projects, which encourage Amazon communities
to use the land in an environmentally friendly
way by combining food production and sustainable
exploitation of forest resources, without
destroying the forest.
"The creation and implementation of
protected areas are important to stop land
grabbing, deforestation and the violence
related to illegal land occupation and environmental
destruction in the Amazon", said André
Muggiati, Greenpeace Amazon Campaigner,
in Anapu.
The Brazilian Government made many promises
about the implementation of the two Social
Development Projects that Sister Dorothy
was working to create at the time of her
murder.
Her work remains unfinished. The violence
continues. In the year since her death at
least another 18 rural workers have been
murdered in the state.
In a region marred by land grabbing, human
rights abuses, environmental degradation
and land conflicts, Sister Dorothy always
fought for the protection of the Amazon.
It is now time for the Brazilian Government
to make good on their promises and help
Sister Dorothy finish her work.
