[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 19 (Friday, February 18, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E287-E288]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                THE MURDER OF AMERICAN NUN DOROTHY STANG

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DAN BURTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 17, 2005

  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise to condemn the killing of 
Dorothy Stang. She was caught in the crossfire at a settlement of 
landless peasants established on a state-run development reserve near 
the town of Anapu, about 1,300 miles north of Rio de Janeiro.
  On Saturday February 12, 2005, Dorothy Stang, a 74-year-old American 
nun, was murdered in Brazil. She was shot four times at point-blank 
range.
  She had been working and living in the region for more than three 
decades. Ms. Stang was bringing the word of God to the poor and 
downtrodden, while championing the environmental and human rights of 
Brazil's impoverished and landless peasants. She had spent

[[Page E288]]

decades fighting illegal loggers and ranchers in the jungle.
  Tragically, nine days before her death, Dorothy Stang warned Brazil's 
Human Rights Minister that she and farmers faced constant death threats 
and needed protection. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has launched 
a federal investigation into the case and called a special cabinet 
meeting.
  Dozens of land activists are killed each year in Brazil as they 
confront militias armed and paid by landowners. Few cases are solved in 
rural areas, where local police forces are often allied with the 
landowners.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call on the government of Brazil to work 
toward a permanent end to the violence and to disarm and disband all 
illicit armed militia. I call upon the government of Brazil to 
implement judicial and police reforms to stem the rising violence, and 
take immediate measures to protect human rights defenders and land 
activists from death threats.
  President Lula's investigation into this case must be transparent and 
the perpetrators of this murder must be brought to justice.

                          ____________________