English translation of Op-Ed printed in Brazilian daily newspaper, Folha de S. Paulo, 2/13/2007 on the Anniversary of Sister Dorothy Stang's Passing

HOW LONG WILL IMPUNITY REIN IN THE STATE OF PARA?

In the early morning hours of February 12, 2005, our sister, Sister Dorothy Stang, returned from organizing a meeting with rural farmers the night before, the hired gunmen Rayfran das Neves Sales and Clodoaldo Carlos Batistá confronted her on a muddy path deep in the Amazon rainforest near Anapu, Pará. The landowners who had threatened her before would see those promises through that day. Sales shot the 73-year old U.S. born nun and naturalized Brazilian six times at point blank range, with Batista’s encouragement, as she raised only a Bible to protect herself. She died face down, her blood mixing with the very soil she had fought for years to protect for the rural workers to whom she had devoted her life.

The violence and brutality of our sister’s assassination still reverberates with me and her seven living siblings even though we live far removed from the Amazon. I live, in the mountains of Colorado, USA, far from the rainforest Dot called home for nearly 30 years in her adopted country. I vividly remember the call that day saying “David, your sister has been murdered”. I immediately asked myself “how could anyone murder or plan the murder of a 73 year old catholic sister who spiritually loved and worked with the poor for over 35 years, building schools, churches, sustainable development projects, and food cooperatives; how could anyone hate her for such love.” I have traveled to Brazil seven times, along with some of my brothers and sisters, over the past two years as we have sought an answer and justice for Dot.

Much has happened in the two years since Dot’s brutal assassination. The impunity enjoyed by the wealthy landowners is far from extinguished. Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2007 reports that in 2005 alone, at least 37 other rural workers or their supporters were killed, 166 wounded, and 261 arrested in rural conflicts in Brazil. Indeed, the official numbers indicate that nearly 2,000 rural workers and their supporters have been killed over the past 20 years, with little or no police investigation, let alone prosecution. The Federal Senators’ Commission Report on Dot’s murder (completed in Feb-Mar. 2005), that Ana Julia Carepa -- then a Federal Senator and now Governor of Pará -- helped author, states that Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura (Bida) disclosed the names of other individuals also involved in the nun’s killing. Except for the arrest of one other landowner/rancher Regivaldo Pereira Galvão, there is no indication the police, federal or state, followed up on these leads.

There had been early signs of progress. Rayfran and Clodoaldo were tried and convicted in December 2005 to 27 and 17 years in prison. The jury found the motive for the murder to be the promise of money. Amair Feijoli da Cunha, the middleman who hired the gunmen, was convicted received an 18 years prison sentence in April 2006. His testimony links the two landowners to Dot’s assassination, and Bida awaits trial in custody. My family was initially encouraged by these developments in a state notorious for impunity against the rural poor.

More recently it has been business as usual, increasing my family’s concern for justice. Regivaldo’s July 2006 release from protective custody unsettled the Stangs. Attorneys warned us early on that Regivaldo would use every trick to delay trial, and then argue that the delay justified his release. Nevertheless, three of five STF justices accepted that very argument resulting in his release.

I returned to Belém a seventh time in August 2006, to urge that the landowners stand trial before December 2006. Those trials still remain unscheduled. Lately, rumors that Rayfran may be re-tried before Regivaldo and Bida stand trial for the first time have increased the Stang’s consternation that Pará has little interest in justice in this case.

Although Dot’s family is far removed from the Amazon, the distance did not insulate us from effects of the same violence that has ruined the lives of so many poor, rural Brazilian families. What hope do the poor, rural Brazilians have for justice if Pará does nothing for Dot? Two years after her murder, Pará remains unwilling to answer that question by putting the landowners on trial. In the meantime, the Stang Family promises to continue to return to Belém until Pará provides the answer.

Signed by David Stang on behalf of the Stang Family

With the support of:
Jeffrey T. Hsu and Brent N. Rushforth, Heller Ehrman LLP, and RFK Memorial Center for Human Rights , Washington, DC