Attaque contre un défenseur des droits de l'homme
Residents of the Virola-Jatobá Sustainable Development Project (PDS)
Sources
On September 23rd 2018, inhabitants of the Virola-Jatobá Sustainable Development Project (PDS), a rural area of the municipality of Anapu (PA), have been the targets of a criminal arson. According to the settlers, the attack was a retaliation after invaders, among them farmers, were removed from the area in compliance with the Federal Justice's reinstatement warrant, executed on 19 and 20 of September. Those responsible remain in impunity. Virola-Jatobá is next to the PDS Esperança, where the North American missionary Dorothy Stang was assassinated, in 2005. According to the residents, the escalation of the conflict is a result of the irregular occupation that began on November 15, 2017, when the settlement was invaded by about 200 men, including illegal loggers.