The murder and repression of environmental activists is a double crime: against human rights and the rights of nature. Hundreds are being killed annually.
Numerous organisations, including the United Nations, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and Human Rights Watch, are tackling these crimes and raising the alarm.
The PPI will build a resource base on environmental defenders and, through its Crimes Against Biodiversity research program, develop a new international criminal code that prohibits these violations.
Rainforest Mafias
Illegal deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon is driven largely by criminal networks that have the logistical capacity to coordinate large-scale extraction, processing, and sale of timber, while deploying armed men to protect their interests. Yet the government of Jair Bolsonaro has effectively given a green light to the criminal networks involved in illegal logging.
This 2019 Human Rights Watch report examines how violence and impunity fuels rainforest destruction in the Amazon.
Defending Tomorrow
Global Witness’ latest report into the killings of land and environmental defenders in 2019 shows that the highest number yet have been murdered in a single year - 212 people, an average of more than four a week. Over half of all reported killings occurred in two countries: Colombia and the Philippines. Over two-thirds took place in Latin America and the Amazon region alone saw 33 deaths.
Co-violations of Rights
On International Human Rights Day 2016 the Earth Law Center released its second report detailing co-violations of human rights and Nature’s rights worldwide. The report analyzes another 100 cases – 200 in total – and highlights many chilling trends. 28 percent of examined cases involved at least one murder, while 30 percent of involved harm to indigenous peoples’ rights. Nearly 60 percent of the cases resulted in biodiversity loss, underscoring an alarming study indicating that the world is now on track to lose two-thirds of Earth’s animal life by 2020.
On Dangerous Ground
In 2016 Global Witness published a major report, On Dangerous Ground, which documented 185 killings across 16 countries – by far the highest annual death toll on record and more than double the number of journalists killed in the same period.
This is one report from Global Witness’ ongoing campaign to cast a spotlight on violence against environmental defenders and advocate for their cause.
The Defenders
In 2017 and 2018, in collaboration with Global Witness, the Guardian compiled all the recorded deaths of people who were killed while defending their land, forests, rivers or wildlife – most often against the harmful impacts of extractive industries such as mining, logging and agribusiness. They also documented the stories of some of the land and environmental defenders under ongoing attack.
The Environmental Defender Law Center
The Environmental Defender Law Center (EDLC) is a non-profit organization that works to protect the human rights of people in developing countries who are fighting to protect their environment. EDLC identifies cases where environmental defenders need and want legal assistance. It specializes in cases of international significance, where innovative legal strategies can be developed and later replicated to help other environmental defenders.