VZCZCXRO1994
RR RUEHRG
DE RUEHBR #0640/01 1331501
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 121501Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1624
INFO RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 8026
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 6144
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 2049

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 000640 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: BR PREL PHUM
SUBJECT: DOROTHY STANG'S KILLER'S FREED ON APPEAL -- TOP 
BRAZILIAN OFFICIALS OUTRAGED 
 
REF: A. 07 BRASILIA 953 
     ¶B. 06 BRASILIA 1321 
     ¶C. 06 BRASILIA 914 
     ¶D. 05 BRASILIA 437 
     ¶E. 05 BRASILIA 369 
 
Summary 
------- 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura, also known as 
Bida, was acquitted by a jury of the murder of Dorothy Stang, 
an American nun and naturalized Brazilian citizen, on May 6, 
almost exactly a year after his initial conviction.  On May 
15, 2007, Moura, a Brazilian rancher, was sentenced to 30 
years as the mastermind behind the shooting.  In Brazil, 
penal legislation guarantees an automatic appeal of any 
sentence over twenty years for first-time offenders.  Stang 
was an advocate for sustainable development projects by the 
poor and worked to halt deforestation by loggers and 
ranchers.  Her efforts earned her the hostility of landowners 
in the Brazilian state of Para, which is notorious for 
lawlessness and contract killings.  Last year's ruling was 
considered a landmark decision because of its high-profile 
and its upending of the tradition of impunity for contractors 
of hired-killers.  There is speculation in the media that 
Moura bought his freedom on appeal by paying off the 
convicted gunman, Rayfran das Neves Sales, to change his 
testimony.  Sales, who was also on appeal, was a principal 
witness against Moura in the first trial.  Sales, sentence 
was upheld by the same jury.  Although prosecutors plan to 
seek to annul the second trial and many in the Brazilian 
federal government, including President Lula, have been 
critical of it, the decision reinforces Para state's 
reputation for lawlessness.  End summary. 
 
Background 
---------- 
¶2. (U) Dorothy Stang, an American-born 73-year old nun with 
the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, had been living in Brazil 
since the 1970s, helping poor settlers gain land in the 
Amazon Rain Forest and protecting the environment.  She was a 
naturalized Brazilian citizen, originally from Ohio.  She 
helped build schools and was among the activists who worked 
to defend the rights of impoverished farmers in the Amazon 
region.  She also attempted to halt the rampant deforestation 
by loggers and ranchers.  Her efforts earned her the enmity 
of powerful loggers and ranchers in Para, who routinely hire 
gunmen to harass and even kill settlers who get in their way. 
 
¶3. (U) At the time of her murder (by seven gunshots), on 
February 12, 2005, she was campaigning for a sustainable 
development project on land reform backed by the Federal 
Government in Anapu, Para state, an isolated community 
located deep inside the Amazon jungle.  The project involved 
family agricultural production and subsistence level 
activities with low environmental impact.  The project was 
being developed in an area that ranch owner Moura claimed. 
She was murdered by gunmen Regivaldo Galvao, Amair Feijoli da 
Cunha (Tato), Rayfran das Neves Sales, and Clodoaldo Carlos 
Batista, all hired by Moura (reftels A-E). 
 
The Appeal 
---------- 
¶4. (U) During the two-day appeal, Sales recanted his previous 
testimony and stated that the weapon that he used to kill 
Stang was not provided by Moura according to press reports. 
Nonetheless, the jury's decision caused immediate outrage by 
courtroom observers composed of lawyers and human rights 
activists, forcing Judge Raimundo Alves Flexa to interrupt 
final statements twice to call for silence.  Without Sales' 
testimony implicating Moura, Moura's attorney successfully 
argued that there was not sufficient evidence to convict his 
client, despite attempts by the prosecution to demonstrate 
that Moura planned to pay Sales and the others to kill Stang. 
 After making his oral arguments, the prosecutor, Edson 
Souza, mentioned that he and his family had been repeatedly 
threatened for over a year while working on the case.  The 
judge simply pointed out that a democratic state works this 
way and that the jury's decision must be respected.  The 
Public Ministry (prosecution) announced that it would seek to 
have the second trial annulled. 
 
The Other Killers 
----------------- 
¶5. (U) In December 2005, a jury in Para state convicted Sales 
to 27 years, and his partner, Batista, to 18 years.  Feijoli 
Da Cunha was also convicted to 27 years in prison for having 
acted as a middleman in the killing, but his sentence was 
 
BRASILIA 00000640  002 OF 002 
 
 
reduced to 18 years because of a plea bargain in which he 
provided information about the other offenders.  The fourth 
accused, Galvao, is still awaiting trial. 
 
¶6. (U) The Embassy has followed the case closely.  FBI agents 
participated in the early stages of the investigation, and 
Sales and Batista were indicted for murder by a Washington, 
D.C. grand jury on June 21, 2005.  Embassy officials have met 
regularly with Brazilian officials in Belem and Brasilia to 
express our strong interest in the case, and post's Consular 
Agent in Belem, Para's capital, has been monitoring the 
events as they unfold, including attending this trial. 
 
Land Disputes and Impunity 
-------------------------- 
¶7. (U) Intimidation and killings of rural labor rights 
leaders continue to be a problem in Brazil.  The Catholic 
Church's Pastoral Land Commission's (CPT) lawyer Joao Batista 
Afonso said that this case reinforces Para's deserved 
reputation for impunity:  in over 800 rural murders committed 
in the past 35 years in the state, not a single person has 
been convicted or punished for ordering killings.  CPT 
reported that 25 people were killed in land conflicts last 
year, and has repeatedly stated that rural violence is 
increasing due to impunity.  Throughout Brazil over the past 
20 years approximately 1,100 conflicts were registered with 
almost 1,500 deaths, of which only 85 were taken to trial. 
Seventy-one murderers were convicted, but only 19 were found 
guilty of having ordered killings. 
 
¶8. (U) Local press report strong government reaction against 
the decision noting that Supreme Court President Celso de 
Mello said that the decision could stain the image of 
Brazil's Justice System, Human Rights Secretary Paulo 
Vannuchi "vehemently" disagreed with the decision, and 
Brazil's Bar Association (OAB) president said that the 
acquittal was a "very bad" signal.  Vannuchi also reported as 
saying that it "reinforces the feeling of impunity that is so 
widespread in our country, opening a road to more crime and 
violence."  Even President Lula is quoted as saying "as a 
Brazilian and common citizen" he is "indignant with the 
result," although "as President of the Republic I don't make 
comments on the decision of a judicial proceeding."  "Let's 
see what is going to happen.  I think that this speaks a bit 
against Brazil's image abroad." 
 
¶9. (U) Stang's brother, David Stang, who arrived for the 
trial last week, was incredulous when the ruling was 
delivered.  According to press reports he said, "I'm a 
rational person.  How could this happen?  It's as if those 
killed are to continue suffering."  He praised that 
prosecution saying that their arguments were outstanding and 
even stronger than when Moura was convicted last year. "I'm 
profoundly shocked," he said. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Comment:  Moura's previous conviction was a bright 
spot in, and seemed to be a turning point for, the justice 
system in a state notorious for lawlessness and impunity.  It 
also created hope that Brazil's poor history of prosecutions 
of land owners who order killings might be coming to an end. 
In the best case, the decision represents only a temporary 
setback that may well be reversed on further appeal by the 
Public Ministry.  If allowed to stand, however, the decision 
could embolden other landowners in rural disputes with 
indigenous (septel) and other groups to take matters into 
their own hands.  The strong outcry from the highest levels 
of the GOB is a positive sign.  Post will continue to express 
our interest in the case and monitor the situation.  End 
Comment. 
SOBEL