Witness, in a study carried out between 2002–2013 in several countries of the world, indicated that Brazil is the most dangerous country for defending human rights related to land and the environment, with 488 of the world’s 908 cases. 52 Moreover, in 1982, 30 rural workers were killed in addition to Gabriel Sales Pimenta. The majority of these crimes were committed in the state of Pará. In fact, in the last twenty years, 35% of homicides of rural workers and their defenders in Brazil took place in the state of Pará. 53 51. We can also observe data on judicial responses to those cases of rural workers killed between 1964–2013 in the state of Pará. Between 1964–1998, 54 out of the 703 murders of rural workers, 5.26% of the cases were prosecuted. In only 183 cases was an investigation initiated, of which 113 led to criminal trials. 55 Between 1985 and March of 2001, out of 1,207 cases, 85 defendants received a final judgment, so on average 95% of cases received “no judicial response.” In the south and southeast of the state of Pará, out of 340 murders of rural workers over the same period (1985 to March of 2001), two defendants received final judgments, so on average 99.4% of homicides “received no judicial response of any kind, neither conviction nor acquittal.” 56 Furthermore, from 1985–2013, there were 428 cases, with a total of 644 homicides related to land conflicts. Of these, 21 cases were brought to court, resulting in the conviction of 12 conspirators and 17 perpetrators. 57 In the municipality of Marabá in the state of Pará, where the death of Gabriel Sales Pimenta occurred (infra para. 56), the rate of impunity was 100% from 1975–2005. 58 B. Background information B.1. Gabriel Sales Pimenta 52. Gabriel Sales Pimenta was 27 at the time of his death, and he was from the municipality of Juiz de Fora in the state of Minas Gerais. He received a law degree from the Federal University of that municipality. In 1980, he became an attorney for the Union of Rural Workers of Marabá (hereinafter “STR” for the Portuguese), located in the state of Pará. Mr. Sales Pimenta was one of for Human Rights. Brasil: Graves violações de direitos humanos na zona rural, 2000, p. 14. Available in Portuguese at: http://www.dhnet.org.br/dados/relatorios/nacionais/r_fidh_brasil.pdf; Brazilian Committee of Human Rights Defenders. Vidas em Luta: Criminalização e violência contra defensoras e defensores de direitos humanos no Brasil em 2017, pp. 70–73. Available in Portuguese at: https://terradedireitos.org.br/uploads/arquivos/CBDDDH---DOSSIE-2017_011118_web.pdf; Front Line Defenders. Global Analysis 2020, pp. 4–5. Available at: Https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/sites/default/files/fld_global_analysis_2020.pdf,, and Global Witness. Defending Tomorrow: The climate crisis and threats against land and environmental defenders, 2020, p. 10 Available at: https://www.globalwitness.org/documents/19939/Defending_Tomorrow_EN_low_res_-_July_2020.pdf According to expert witness Michelotti, “murders linked to land conflicts, especially of the human rights defenders who lead social movements or unions or who advise labor organizations, are also an attempt to silence the struggle for rights.” Expert opinion of Fernando Michelotti on March 7, 2022 (evidence file, folio 7245). 52 Cf. Amicus brief presented by the Order of Attorneys of Brazil, Minas Gerais section (evidence file, folio 7725). 53 Cf. Expert opinion of Carlos Eduardo Gaio, supra (evidence file, folio 7293). In the 1996 massacre of Eldorado dos Carajás, two officers in charge, accused of executing 19 landless rural workers “who had been peacefully demonstrating to demand their land rights, were sentenced to 228 and 158 years respectively.” They were never arrested, however, and they appealed their judgments while remaining at liberty. A third officer in charge who was accused in the case was acquitted. In addition, “the court acquitted nine police sergeants as well as 126 agents of the military police, stating that they only ‘fired their weapons into the air’ and not against the rural workers.” Finally, the government officials with presumed responsibility for the massacre—the governor of Pará and the general commander of the military police at the time—never faced charges. Cf. UN, Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Report of the Special Rapporteur, Asma Jahangir. Addendum: Mission to Brazil, supra, p. 18. 54 55 Cf. Report of the Sociedade Paraense de Defesa dos Direitos Humanos – SDDH, 2005. Belém, 2005, p. 5 (evidence file, folio 844). 56 Cf. UN, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Mr. Leandro Despouy. Doc. E/CN.4/2005/60/Add.3, February 22, 2005, para. 35. 57 Cf. Pastoral Land Commission. Rural Conflicts: Brazil 2013, https://cptnacional.org.br/downlods?task=download.send&id=344&catid=41&m=0. p. 116. Available at: Cf. Pastoral Land Commission et al. Human Rights Violations in the Amazon: Conflict and Violence in the State of Pará, supra, p. 45. 58 15