News Archives » South America
Mastermind Behind Murder of Sr. Dorothy Stang Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison. April 16th, 2010
A jury in the Brazilian city of Belém has sentenced one of the two men believed to have ordered the murder of American-born nun, Sr. Dorothy Stang, SND, to 30 years in prison. The rancher, Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura, was convicted of ordering the 2005 murder of Sister Dorothy who was originally from Dayton, Ohio. She was a longtime organizer of rural settlers and the poor in their efforts to protect their land from seizures by cattle ranchers and timber merchants.
The Sisters of Notre Dame in Belem, Brazil were following this trial of Mr. Moura – his third. They sent a letter to their fellow Sisters in the US telling of the successful conviction, unprecedented in Brazil.
The letter is available here… (Download PDF)
Oblate Testifies on Conditions in Brazilian Prisons March 26th, 2010
Jose de Jesus Filho, OMI presenting before the Inter-American Human Rights Commission
On Friday, March 19, 2010 in Washington, DC, a group of petitioners, representing various organizations in Brazil, made their case to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission concerning the conditions of overcrowding and the practice of torture in the Brazilian prison system. Jose de Jesus Filho, OMI, represented the Prison Pastoral of the Brazilian Bishops’ Conference and participated in the presentation at the hearing.
Broad Coalition Asks Senate for Climate Change Legislation March 19th, 2010
The Missionary Oblates JPIC Office joined184 businesses and organizations, and 77 individual activists, calling on the Senate to legislate action to curb global warming. The letter, which was sent to all members of the Senate, argues that “greenhouse gas emissions can be cut swiftly and in an economically and environmentally sound way by means of a national emissions cap that is realized through a combination of aggressive energy efficiency and renewable energy standards.”
The organizations noted that “by focusing on this three-pronged strategy (i.e., carbon cap + efficiency + renewables), it may prove unnecessary – for the moment at least – to tackle either of the two most controversial options for addressing climate change: creating a “trading system” for emissions credits or imposing carbon taxes.”
The letter also stressed that “climate legislation that promotes continued or expanded use of fossil fuels and/or nuclear power, or which rolls back existing environmental safeguards, could result in a bill that might actually be worse than no bill at all.”
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Spring 2010 Issue of JPIC Report Available March 18th, 2010
The Spring 2010 issue of JPIC Report, the newsletter of the US Justice, Peace/Integrity of Creation Office of the Missionary Oblates is now available on line.
This issue features updates on Sri Lanka, Haiti, logging in Bangladesh, immigration, financial regulatory reform, an Eco-Tips page and more.
Read the Spring 2010 Issue (Download PDF)
Canadian Ruling on Mines and Environmental Impacts Hailed in Central America March 15th, 2010
Ecologists in Guatemala see a recent ruling by Canada’s Supreme Court, which ordered Canadian mining companies to carry out rigorous environmental assessments, as a positive precedent that could help improve environmental controls over the mining industry in this Central American country.
In a case that focused on a Red Chris mining company project in the western Canadian province of British Columbia, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government could not split projects into artificially small parts in order to avoid comprehensive environmental impact studies.
