URGENT ACTION NEEDED: MST Activist Killed, Letters Could Help Bring Those Responsible to Justice
Dear Friends of the MST, On October 21 at 1:30 p.m., a Via Campesina encampment located at Syngenta’s 127-hectare farm used for field trials of genetically modified crops in Santa Tereza do Oeste, in Paraná, Brazil, was attacked by an armed militia. During the brutal attack, a leader and activist from the Movement of Landless Workers (MST) and member of Via Campesina, Valmir Mota de Oliveira, 42 years old (known as “Keno,”) was killed at point-blank range by two shots to the chest. Two other MST leaders, Celso Barbosa and Célia Aparecida Lourenço, were pursued by the gunmen but managed to escape. "We are sure that they came here to kill Keno, Celinha and me," said Celso Barbosa, who added that they had received death threats and intimidation since the beginning of the year. Workers Gentil Couto Viera, Jonas Gomes de Queiroz, Domingos Barretos, Izabel Nascimento de Souza, and Hudson Cardin were seriously injured. Amnesty International, the International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR-Net) and numerous other human rights organizations in Brazil and abroad have expressed their grave concern with the use by Syngenta (a Swiss Company) of an armed militia which was acting through a front company, NF Security, in conjunction with the Rural Society of the Western Region (SRO) and the Movement of Rural Producers (MPR), which are tied to agribusiness. An inquiry has been opened in order to speed along the denunciations against Syngenta and NF Security, but the Brazilian authorities have not taken any measures. The use by multinationals of armed militias in Brazil must stop immediately. In order to ensure the punishment of those responsible for the aforementioned crimes—primarily those who ordered the attacks—as well as the disbandment of armed militias in the region, we are asking all friends and allies to send letters to the Syngenta headquarters in the United States, with a copy to the Swiss Embassy in Washington, DC. **SEE DRAFT LETTER BELOW** Your action is crucial to ensure an end to injustice and impunity in Brazil’s countryside. Please ACT NOW! See this link for the full Via Campesina Press release on the incident: http://www.mstbrazil.org/?q=valmirmotadeoliveiraakakeno42 Yours in Solidarity, Jeffrey Frank National Coordinator, Friends of the MST --------------------------------------------- INSTRUCTIONS - Send separate letters to Syngenta’s two principal representatives in the United States, Michael Pragnell (CEO) and Michael Mack (COO). Copies of these letters should be sent to the Swiss Embassy in Washington, DC. If possible, electronic copies of both letters should be sent to the MST in Paraná and FMST-US for our records (1)mstpr@mst.org.br and (2) info@mstbrazil.org. SEND ORIGINALS TO - ~~~ (1) Michael Pragnell, CEO US National Headquarters of Syngenta Syngenta Corporation 2200 Concord Pike P. O. Box 8353 Wilmington, DE 19803-8353 Ph : (302) 425-2000 or 1-800-759-4500 Fax: (302) 425-2001 ~ (2) Michael Mack, Chief Operating Officer US National Headquarters of Syngenta Syngenta Corporation 2200 Concord Pike P. O. Box 8353 Wilmington, DE 19803-8353 Ph : (302) 425-2000 or 1-800-759-4500 Fax: (302) 425-2001 ~~~ SEND COPIES TO – (1) Embassy of Switzerland 2900 Cathedral Ave NW Washington, DC 20008 Ph : (202) 745-7900 Fax : (202) 387-2564 ~ (2) MST in Paraná [ mstpr@mst.org.br ] and FMST-US [ info@mstbrazil.org ] ~~~ SAMPLE LETTER – Dear Sir: I, [YOUR NAME / NAME OF ORGANIZATION] am writing to express my grave concern with regard to the October 21 murder of Valmir Mota de Oliveira, also known as Keno, of the Movement of Landless Workers (MST) and Via Campesina, in the Brazilian state of Paraná, who was shot twice and killed by armed gunmen on an experimental GMO farm of Syngenta Seeds in Santa Tereza do Oeste Paraná, Brazil. Keno’s death is a tremendous loss for his family, for those struggling for social justice and human rights in Brazil, and for the international network of friends and allies who continue to be shocked by the brutality of agribusiness expansion in Brazil. It has been documented that at 1:30 p.m. of the day of the attack, a bus stopped in front of the entrance gate to the farm and an armed militia of approximately 40 heavily armed gunmen got out, firing at the people in the encampment. They broke down the gate, pursued and killed activist Keno with two shots to the chest, attempted to kill two other leaders, shot five other landless workers, and severely beat Isabel do Nascimento de Souza, who remains in serious condition at the hospital. In addition, it has been noted that Syngenta was using the services of an armed militia which was acting through a front company, NF Security, in conjunction with the Rural Society of the Western Region (SRO) and the Movement of Rural Producers (MPR), which are tied to agribusiness. While an inquiry has been opened in order to investigate these denunciations against your company and NF Security, we insist that you immediately suspend all contracting of private militias in Brazil to avoid any further violations of human rights. Please see to it that the individuals involved in this attack, who are intimately linked to and paid by your company, are brought to justice. Also, please ensure that your company avoids further altercations with Brazil’s human rights and social justice movements, and that the right of Brazil’s people to peacefully organize be respected by your Brazil-based employees and functionaries. Respectfully, [YOUR NAME / NAME OF ORGANIZATION] [LOCATION]