Amazon Updates
10 October 2001
"We will not be silenced"
Death threat will not deter Greenpeace campaign to protect the
Amazon
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Brasilia, Brazil - Greenpeace vowed today that a death
threat to one of its campaigners would not deter the environmental
organisation from working to protect the Amazon from destruction.
Last week, a telephone call was made to a house where
Greenpeace campaigners live and work in Manaus, in the heart
of the Brazilian Amazon, threatening death to Paulo Adario,
the coordinator of Greenpeace's Amazon campaign.
|
Paulo Adario
exposing illegal logging in Pará state. |
At a press conference in Brasilia, Paulo Adario said: "This
is not only a serious threat against my life but, of greater importance,
it is a threat to all people who campaign to protect the Amazon.
It is clear that our recent work exposing illegal logging of mahogany
in the Amazon is at the base of this threat. In Brazil it is well
known that most of the mahogany trade is controlled by criminals,
who for too long have been allowed to operate with impunity. "
 |
On September 26th Greenpeace released new evidence of extensive
illegal logging deep in the heart of the Amazon rainforest.
Photographs and video images from a recent aerial reconnaissance
by Greenpeace clearly showed sophisticated logging operations
in lands belonging to the Amazon's Kayapó Indians,
an area where logging is strictly prohibited. |
Satellite images obtained by Greenpeace also revealed details
of these operations. This information was delivered to the federal
prosecutor in Brasilia, along with Greenpeace's call for a full
investigation.
In a bid to stop the opening of the forest by mahogany loggers,
in 1996 the Brazilian government enacted a moratorium on new mahogany
logging ventures. But, based on Greenpeace's new information,
several companies appear to be using false papers to cover up
their illegal logging operations on adjacent Kayapó Indian
property.
"The Amazon region is known for violence against those who
work to defend it. We will do everything in our power to protect
our people in the Amazon, but we will not be intimidated into
stopping our work. We will not be silenced," said Marijane
Lisboa, Executive Director of Greenpeace Brazil.
In one recent and tragic example, on August 25th the coordinator
of the Movement for the Development of the Transamazon and Xingu
Region (MDTX), Ademir Alfeu Federicci (Dema), was killed by a
gunman in his home in Altamira, in the Brazilian Amazon state
of Para. Dema was an active leader in the resistance to the construction
of dams planned by the Brazilian government on the Xingu River,
and an opponent of illegal logging in the region.
Dema unsuccessfully defended himself and was shot in the head
in front of his wife and children.
Paulo with
other Greenpeace activists in an area of destroyed forest
in Pará state.
|
Brazil's Minister of Justice, Jose Gregori, said Tuesday
that he was outraged over the threat to Adario's life. In
a private meeting with Adario he committed his ministry
to action, and said he will instruct the federal police
to launch an intensive investigation immediately.
Brazil's Minister of Environment, Jose Sarney Filho, also
expressed deep concern. "I would like to say that I
take the death threat made to the Greenpeace member as if
it was directed to me. That is because Greenpeace does nothing
less than what we do. That is why they have all my support
in assuring the physical safety of the Greenpeace campaigner.
The partnership between the ministry and Greenpeace is long
standing and has brought many results, reducing the huge
illegal operations in that region."
|
On Monday, Jose Carlos Dias, former Minister of Justice of Brazil
and a prominent human rights activist, voluntarily stepped forward
to pledge his full support for Paulo Adario and Greenpeace. Amazonino
Mendes, the Governor of Brazil's Amazonas state, also said that
he would give all possible guarantees for the safety of Adario,
so that the work of Greenpeace can continue in the Amazon.
Take action to support Greenpeace's continued campaigning in the Amazon and increased security for all people working to protect the Amazon and its people.
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