Leader of the Landless Workers Movement (MST) Killed in Brazil
On March 29, 1999, Eduardo Anguinoni was killed in the state of
Parana. Eduardo was the brother of the MST regional director in Parana, Celso Anguinoni. Both, Celso and Eduardo, were at Celso's house when a number of gunmen arrived and killed Eduardo. This was not an isolated case. Several MST leaders have been suffering repression in Parana.
On April 5, 1999, the MST regional coordinator in Parana, Seno Staat, was kidnapped and tortured for five hours. The ten kidnappers referred to the killing of Eduardo Anguinoni and made it clear that the next target was going to be his brother, Celso. A number of other MST leaders have been receiving death threats in Parana, including Jaime Calegari, Ademir Dalazen, Antonio Arrepiado, Claimar, Jairo Zatta, Delfino Becker, Pedro Cabral, and Julir das Chagas Martins.
Due to the increasing economic crisis and high unemployment rates, rural workers organizations have intensified land occupations in Brazil. In the last two years, the number of families living in rural camps increased by 10,000. They are waiting for the government to desapropriate the idle pieces of land they have occupied, as it is mandated by the Brazilian Constitution.
In addition to the recent assassination, there have been several cases of human rights violations against rural workers who have been expelled from rural camps. The MST has accused the state government, the military police and the large land owners association (UDR) for the violence. The UDR has announced it will start using land mines as a weapon against rural workers.
The MST has been constantly denouncing this violence to the state government, the local police as well to the Human Rights Commission in Congress. In addition to disregarding these claims, the government of Parana has not investigated the killings or any other human rights violations.
We ask our friends in Brazil and abroad to launch an international campaign against this violence, asking the Brazilian government to:
1.Stop violence against rural workers and investigate human rights
violations in the countryside;
2.Guarantee the protection of MST leaders and farm workers;
3.Implement agrarian reform in Brazil.
Please send letters to:
1.Governor Jaime Lerner
Praça Nossa Senhora da Salete, s/n CEP 80.530-909,
Curitiba, Parana, Brasil.
Fax: (011- 55 -41) 2542399
2.Presidente da Republica Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Palacio do Planalto: CEP 70.150-900, Brasilia, DF,
Brazil
E-mail: pr@planalto.gov.br
3.Ministro da Justiça Renan Calheiros
Esplanada dos Ministerios, Bloco T, 4 andar, CEP
70064-900
Brasilia, DF, Brazil
Fax: ( 011- 55- 61) 322 6817 / 224 4784
Please send copies of your letters to:
MST, Human Rights Department
Alameda Barao de Limeira, 1232, CEP 01201-002,
São Paulo/SP, Brazil
Sincerely,
Joao Pedro Stedile
MST National Office
Suggested Letter:
I am concerned with the increasing levels of violence against landless
rural workers in Brazil. Specifically, I am shocked by the recent acts of violence in the state of Parana, including the brutal murder of MST activist Eduardo Anguinoni, the kidnapping and torture of activists including Valdecir Bordignon and Seno Staar, and death threats against a number of other MST leader and activists.
I truly hope that these acts be investigated by the state and federal
governments and the perpetrators will be brought to justice. I also will continue to monitor the human rights situation in the Brazilian
countryside, recognizing that this violence in rooted in highly unequal land tenure that constitutionally guaranteed agrarian reform promises to address. I implore you to actively support the settlement of landless families in Parana' and throughout Brazil and to protect the human rights of those struggling to make agrarian reform a reality and not an empty promise.
Thank you for your time and attention to these urgent matters,
_______________________________________________________________
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