Liliana Jauregui Bordones appointed Director of IUCN NL
28 November, 2024
Liliana Jauregui Bordones appointed Director of IUCN NL
28 November, 2024
Virunga Youth supports ranger training in the DRC
26 November, 2024
Tuesday 30 july 2019
Header photo: (c) Jeoffrey Maitem Global Witness
A total of 164 environmental defenders were killed in 2018, most of them fighting against mining, logging or agribusiness. Most of the recorded murders occurred in the Philippines (30), followed by Colombia (24), India (23) and Brazil (20). The sharpest increase in killings occurred in Guatemala, where 16 defenders were killed (more than five times as many than in 2017).
Mining turns out to be the deadliest sector for environmental defenders. No less than 43 of the recorded murders is linked to this industry, which often has destructive effects for the environment and livelihoods of inhabitants. The report also shows a spike in killings linked to the defense of water sources globally, rising from four in 2017 to 17 in 2018.
For the first time, Global Witness sounds the alarm about the criminalization of environmental defenders and their communities. The report shows that governments and companies are using legal systems to silence activists who threaten their power and interests. This, for example, includes the misuse of existing laws designed to stop terrorists, or the creation of new rules to limit freedom of speech. This makes attacks on environmental defenders seem legitimate, increasing their likelihood.
The prosecution of environmental defenders is often linked to demand for the land and raw materials needed for products we consume every day, from food, to mobile phones, to jewelry.
Strikingly, environmental defenders from countries like the United States and the United Kingdom are also criminalized. In the UK, for example, three anti-fracking protesters received draconian prison sentences.
According the report, this trend of criminalization only seems to worsen. “It is a brutal irony that while judicial systems routinely allow the killers of defenders to walk free, they are also being used to brand the activists themselves as terrorists, spies or dangerous criminals,” says Alice Harrison of Global Witness. “Both tactics send a clear message to other defenders: the stakes for defending their rights are punishingly high. For them, their families and their communities.”
28 November, 2024
As of January 1, 2025, Liliana Jauregui Bordones will become the new Director of IUCN NL. This announcement was made…
26 November, 2024
Three young people joined ranger teams in national parks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after successfully completing…