UPDATE
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FOREST
CONSERVATION NEWS TODAY
Amazon
Defender Threatened with Death
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Forest
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Portal
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Conservation Links
10/13/01
OVERVIEW
& COMMENTARY by Forests.org
A noted
Amazon rainforest defender from Greenpeace, who has recently
participated
in highlighting surging illegal logging in the Amazon
(see
http://forests.org/recent/2001/illlogam.htm ), has had his life
threatened. This threat is likely from illegal loggers
who have
clearly
overstepped their bounds - threatening not only the existence
of the
Amazon - but resorting also to threats of murder to defend
their
global ecocide. It is time for a full
investigation into
illegal
logging in the Brazilian Amazon, and a moratorium on new
logging
until the investigation is complete and actions are
implemented
to ensure environmentally sustainable forest management
and
widespread protected areas are in place.
The global timber mafia
that is
engaged in illegal plundering of the Planet's ecological
heritage
must be investigated, clamped down upon and put out of
business.
g.b.
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TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Leader of Greenpeace Amazon Campaign
Threatened with Death
Source: Copyright 2001 Environment News Service
Date: October 11, 2001
MANAUS,
Brazil, October 11, 2001 (ENS) - Fresh photo and video
evidence
of extensive illegal logging in the Amazon rainforest
released
by Greenpeace on September 26 has brought retaliation.
A
telephone call received last week at a house where Greenpeace
campaigners
live and work in Manaus, in the heart of the Brazilian
Amazon,
threatened death to Paulo Adario who coordinates Greenpeace's
Amazon
Campaign.
"This
is not only a serious threat against my life but, of greater a
importance,
it is a threat to all people who campaign to protect the
Amazon,"
said Adario. "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."
Photographs
and video images from a recent aerial reconnaissance by
Greenpeace
showed sophisticated logging operations in lands belonging
to the
Kayap˘ Indians, 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.
Greenpeace
has been conducting its campaign against illegal logging
with
the full cooperation and support of the Brazilian government.
Officials
expressed concern with regard to the threat.
Brazil's
Minister of Environment, Jose Sarney Filho, said, "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, pledged his full support for
Adario
and Greenpeace.
Amazonino
Mendes, the Governor of Brazil's Amazonas State, said that
he
would give all possible guarantees for Adario's safety, so that
the
work of Greenpeace can continue in the Amazon.
"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 John Passacantando, executive director of
Greenpeace
in the United States. "Greenpeace has been working to
protect
the Amazon and those who depend on the forest."
To stop
the illegal logging of valuable mahogany, in 1996 the
Brazilian
government enacted a moratorium on new mahogany logging
ventures.
But Greenpeace says that several companies appear to be
using
false papers to cover up their illegal logging operations on
Kayap˘
Indian property.
Violence
against defenders of natural resources in the Amazon region
is not
uncommon. On August 25th in Altamira, Ademir Alfeu Federicci,
known
as Dema, was killed by a gunman in his home. He was the
coordinator
of the Movement for the Development of the Transamazon
and
Xingu Region, a leader in the resistance to the construction of
dams
and an opponent of illegal logging.
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