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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03
BRASILIA 000464

SUBJECT: THREE SUSPECTS IN CUSTODY IN STANG

MURDER, BUT DOUBTS ABOUT INVESTIGATION EMERGE

REF: A. BRASILIA 00369 B. BRASILIA 00437

Classified By: Political Counselor Dennis
Hearne. Reason: 1.4 (d).

¶1. (C) By February 22, police had arrested

three of the four suspects in the February 12
murder of US missionary Dorothy Stang in Para
state in northern Brazil. Both alleged gunman
plus the middleman who hired them are now in
custody. The fourth suspect, the landowner who
is the alleged mastermind of the assassination,
remains at large and his attorney is negotiating
his surrender. To outward appearances, the case
is moving along well. However, many remain
convinced that the state authorities leading the
investigation are seriously compromised by links
to large landowners, and that a full
investigation and fair trial will not take place
unless the case is taken over by federal
authorities. To this end, federal officials are
reviewing their options and a decision on
"federalizing" the case is expected in the
coming days. The case continues to command
enormous press and government interest in
Brazil. (Note: We request strict protection for
identities of sources in this report. End Note).

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THREE OF FOUR SUSPECTS IN CUSTODY
------------------------------------------------

¶2. (C) On February 21, the third of four

suspects in the murder of US missionary Sister
Dorothy Stang was taken into custody by police
in the northern Brazilian state of Para. Per
refs, Stang, 73, was shot to death by two men on
February 12 on a dirt road near the town of
Anapu, in the state's rural interior, apparently
because of her activities on behalf of landless
farmers and the rainforest. The attack was
witnessed by one of Stang's colleagues who
escaped uninjured and is now under police
protection. The investigation is focusing on
four suspects: the two gunmen (Rayfran "Fogoio"
de Sales and Uilquelano "Eduardo" de Souza
Pinto), the middleman who hired them (Amair
Feijoli "Tato" da Cunha), and the alleged
mastermind (landowner Vitalmiro Goncalves "Bida"
de Moura). 3. (C) On February 19, alleged
middleman Tato da Cunha turned himself in to
police, reportedly afraid for his own safety in
the tense region. On February 20-21, the two
gunmen were captured separately by police acting
on tips. Only landowner Bida de Moura remains at
large, and authorities told us on February 21
that his attorney is negotiating his surrender.
Alleged triggerman Rayfran de Sales has already
confessed his involvement to police but thus far
has refused to implicate Bida de Moura.

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STATE POLICE MAY BE COMPROMISED
------------------------------------------------

¶4. (C) On February 21, Embassy Poloff, USAID

Environmental Officer and US Consular Agent met
with authorities in Belem, the capital of Para
state at the mouth of the Amazon River. To
outward appearances, the investigations are
proceeding smoothly, yet there are serious
concerns that the state police have been
compromised by improper links to large
landowners in the area who are involved in
illegal land appropriation and deforestation.
There is a belief here that a full investigation
and fair trial will not be realized unless the
case is taken over by federal authorities.

¶5. (C) State police have primary jurisdiction

over murder cases, and the Para authorities have
taken the lead in investigating the Stang
murder. However, because of the implications for
federal environmental, human rights, and
agrarian policies, the Federal Police and
federal prosecutors are conducting their own
parallel inquiry, and tensions between the two
forces are beginning to emerge.

Manoel Santino, the Special State Secretary for

Social Defense, who commands the state's two
police forces (the investigative "Policia Civil"
and the uniformed "Policia Militar") told us
that the inquiry is proceeding quickly and that
state investigators (deploying an "Israeli-made
wiretap system", he told us) are convinced of
the involvement of the four suspects. Santino
noted that Dorothy Stang had met with him four
times in recent months to discuss tensions in
the Anapu area, but that she had not accepted
police protection. (N.b., Stang reported
receiving numerous credible death threats in the
past two years, so the question of why she had
no police protection has generated some finger-
pointing here. Our discussions with authorities
and her friends and colleagues suggest that she
did not accept protection because she harbored
suspicions about the loyalties of the state
police and because she felt that if she were
well-protected, potential assassins would then
attack those around her who did not have
protection.)

¶6. (C) In a separate conversation, XXXXXX,

pronounced himself "deeply concerned" that the
investigation will be intentionally compromised
by state authorities. Corrupt state authorities
are widely believed to have allowed lucrative
large-scale illegal land appropriation and
clear-cutting to have continued for years.
XXXXXX observed that Dorothy Stang was "widely-
known, a walking archive of land theft,
persistent, and well-prepared", thus she became
a "stone in the shoe of landowners and state
police." Based on the federal authorities'
parallel investigation, XXXXX is convinced that
the two gunmen in custody were involved in the
killing, but he is not yet certain about the
involvement of alleged mastermind Bida de Moura.
XXXXXX minced no words, he told us that the
state police in the rural areas are closely
connected with large landowners and have been
known to hire themselves out as gunmen and to
intentionally obstruct investigations. He said
he is "very worried about the direction of the
investigation, the speed with which state police
settled on the four suspects, and the security
of those in custody." XXXXX pointed out that
higher-ups in the conspiracy could easily
"erase" the suspects now in jail, either by
arranging for them to be killed or by allowing
them to escape --both common scenarios in Para's
jails. XXXXXX added that he had learned that as
they were arresting gunman Rayfran de Sales,
state police officers reportedly threatened him
and told him how to structure his confession.

¶7. (C) XXXXXX's fears about the involvement of

the state police were echoed by State
Congressman XXXXXX . XXXXXX is an
environmentalist who serves on the State
Assembly's Human Rights Committee. Between
meetings at the State Assembly, XXXXXX pulled us
into a corner and hurriedly whispered that he
was convinced that officials in the state police
are involved in a cover-up to protect the
higher-ups in the Stang murder. Similar concerns
were shared with us by Dorothy Stang's
colleagues, two nuns with her religious order
'The Sisters of Notre Dame' in Belem (strictly
protect this reference). One of the Sisters told
us, "The cops in Anapu are all tied in with the
landowners. As long as the state police and
officials are involved, this case will go
nowhere. It's got to go to the federal level."

¶8. (C) Further suspicions were raised by odd

public comments from the attorney for alleged
ringleader Bida de Moura. The attorney, Augusto
Septinio, helped to negotiate the surrender of
middleman Tato da Cunha and is now negotiating
the surrender of his own client. Septinio told
the press that, "I could have turned Tato in to
the Federal Police but I decided to do the
honors with the state police instead". Septinio
added that he had been working hard to locate
alleged gunman Rayfran de Sales in the days
before Sales was arrested. Left unclear was why
Bida's attorney chose to "honor" the state
police, why he was negotiating Tato's surrender
(which leaves an impression of conflict with his
own client's interests), and why he was so eager
to contact the fleeing triggerman.

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RED HERRING SUSPECT
------------------------------------------------

¶9. (C) One element of the confession of

triggerman Rayfran de Sales is universally
disbelieved: his charge that the murder was
ordered by Francisco "Chiquinho" de Souza, a
local Workers' Party (PT) politician in the town
of Anapu. De Souza, a leader of the rural
workers' union was a close friend of Dorothy
Stang and worked with her in support of small
farmers. Senior officials with both the state
and federal police with whom we spoke saw the
attempt to implicate De Souza as a clumsy try at
protecting the real conspirators.

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"FEDERALIZATION" OF THE CASE
------------------------------------------------

¶10. (C) A recently-passed law allows the

federal government to take over from the states
cases of grave human rights abuses. The law has
yet to be invoked, and the Stang murder may
represent its trial run. The decision on whether
to take over a case is left to the discretion of
Federal Prosecutor-General Claudio Fonteles, and
must be approved by the Supreme Federal Court.
XXXX told us that Fonteles is now considering
invoking the "federalization" law in the Stang
murder and that a decision should be announced
in the coming days.
------------------------------------------------
HEIGHTENED SECURITY IN THE REGION
------------------------------------------------

¶11. (C) The state and federal police have

reinforced their presence in the interior of the
state. In addition, the Army has deployed
approximately 180 troops to the area around the
town of Anapu, and has approximately 1,800 more
troops available to deploy if necessary.
Everyone we spoke with, from left-of-center
politicians to police and government officials,
sees the military as providing a positive
presence. Given the perceived weaknesses in the
state police, the small size of the federal
police unit in the state, and the fact that the
police are chronically under-equipped, the Army
has been able to take a helpful supporting role
in maintaining security and supporting police
operations. The Army intervention was requested
by Para Governor Simao Jatene in meetings with
President Lula, and was approved by the State
Assembly. There is no fixed end-date for the
Army intervention.
¶12. (C) David Stang, brother of Dorothy, will
be arriving in Brazil February 24 to visit the
gravesite of his sister. Though the visit is
orchestrated by Dorothy Stang's order, our
consular agent in Belem will meet and assist as
necessary. The CG in Sao Paulo will greet Stang
as he transits on his way to Belem; the
Ambassador will meet Stang when he transits
Brasilia on his way back to the U.S. The Embassy
continues to provide updates on the case to a
number of Dorothy Stang's relatives.

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COMMENT - INTENSE PRESS AND GOB ATTENTION
-----------------------------------------------

¶13. (C) The Stang murder continues to command

great attention from the Brazilian government
and press. Federal and state task forces have
been formed to address various elements of the
issue, from protecting human rights activists to
clarifying the complex web of land ownership
issues at the heart of the disputes. A new land-
use plan for Para state is being hurriedly
pushed forward, designed to demarcate protected
reserves from lands available for commercial
use. The Stang case is on the cover of both
major weekly newsmagazines (Veja and IstoE) and
progress is detailed on the front pages of every
newspaper. By all accounts, President Lula is
following the case closely. On February 21 he
told the press he would not rest until the
murders were locked up, adding, "It is
abominable that people still think a .38
revolver is the solution to a conflict, no
matter how serious." Given longstanding concerns
about the performance, corruptibility, and low
morale of state police throughout Brazil,
coupled with specific concerns about state
police performance on the Stang investigation,
we will be watching closely to see whether the
federal authorities decide to assert their
jurisdiction.

DANILOVICH

(Edited and reformatted by Andres for ease of

reading.)