Activist threatened with death in COP30 host city proves life and asks for protection
20 de May de 2025
By Ana Pastana – From Cenarium
MANAUS (AM) – After more than 10 days missing, environmental activist Pedro Paulo de Moraes Lima, 61 years old, sent an audio message to the Portal Info Revolução on Saturday, the 17th. Pedro is the director of the NGO Guardiões e Amigos do Parque Ecológico (Guardians and Friends of the Ecological Park (Gape) and had not been seen since May 6. In the recording, he said he is being threatened in Pará and sought refuge in Amazonas.
In the audio, Pedro confirms his identity and says he is in hiding in Amazonas. He asks for protection from the State government and the Human Rights Commission of the Brazilian Bar Association – Amazonas Chapter (OAB-AM). The activist also accuses lawyer Thiago José Souza dos Santos, called “Carcaça,” a man named Renato, and other individuals of physical assault and threats.
“My name is Pedro Paulo de Moras Lima, I am an activist and defender of GAP, Guardiões Amigos de Parques Ecológico. Today I am an environmental political refugee in the State of Amazonas, and I am here to request personal protection from the local government and the Human Rights Commission of the Brazilian Bar Association, OAB Amazonas, due to being physically assaulted and threatened with death by the lawyer Tiago, known as Carcaça, and others, Renato and an unknown man appearing to be an armed militiaman, and by a vehicle from the 27th Battalion of the Military Police of the State of Pará,” he says.
Pedro Paulo also says in the recording that he will remain hidden until his physical safety is guaranteed. “I will stay at an undisclosed location until I can truly be sure of my physical and moral integrity, and my safe and swift return to my birth State,” the audio sent to the news portal Info Revolução states.
Listen to the audio:
CENARIUM contacted OAB-AM and the State government to request a statement regarding Pedro Paulo’s protection requests and is awaiting a response.
Lawyer’s Version
Contacted by CENARIUM, lawyer Thiago José Souza dos Santos denied any involvement in Pedro Paulo’s disappearance and also rejected the accusations made against him. In a statement, he declared:
“First of all, I affirm that I have no personal or professional issues with Mr. Pedro Paulo and that I have never been involved with the illegal sale of public lands, nor do I advocate for such activities.
The truth is, this is a case of revenge and resentment from an organization called GAPE, mainly because, as a lawyer, I have acted in several legal proceedings, some of which resulted in convictions in both criminal and civil courts.
More recently, I brought to the attention of the relevant authorities irregularities committed by individuals connected to this organization, such as receiving money directly into their personal bank accounts from rental payments of real estate belonging to the Bela Vista Socio-Cultural Association.
Therefore, such ‘accusations’ are nothing more than an attack from this group of haters against me and my legal prerogatives. When dissatisfied with unfavorable decisions, they cowardly resort to social media to attack parliamentarians, police chiefs, judges, prosecutors, military police officers, and lawyers.
Other than that, I remain calm and at peace, practicing law with the same courage as always.”
Disappearance
Paulo had gone missing after a series of events involving physical assaults, reports of illegal land sales, and accounts of intimidation. The information was recorded in a Police Report (BO) filed by Rosemary Pereira de Oliveira, of the Human Rights Commission of the Brazilian Bar Association – Pará Chapter (OAB-PA).
According to the report, Pedro Paulo was assaulted on May 3 by three residents of the Bela Vista housing complex, where he served as director of a socio-environmental association. One of the aggressors was identified as lawyer Thiago José Souza dos Santos. According to Gape coordinator Flávio Trindade, Thiago was part of a board involved in the possible clandestine sale of environmental preservation areas.
On the afternoon of the assault, Paulo felt ill and, after receiving medical attention, was taken home by colleagues from the NGO. The next day, he again felt unwell, this time on a bus, and was taken to the Metropolitan Hospital by the Mobile Emergency Care Service (Samu). That evening, he attended a meeting with Gape members but chose not to participate in the group’s traditional weekly livestream.
On the morning of May 6, a rideshare driver and close friend of Paulo went to the activist’s home to take him to a medical appointment but could not find him. Using a spare key to enter the house, he found a note that read: “I am being threatened with death,” signed “Paulo Lima.” That was the last known information about the activist’s whereabouts until the afternoon of Saturday, the 17th.
