Colombia and Mexico, world countries where the most environmental leaders are killed

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In Colombia and Mexico, defending the environment has become almost a death sentence: the two countries register the highest number of murders of environmental defenders in the world, with 65 and 30 homicides in 2020, respectively, according to a study published Monday by Global Witness.

The organization also points to 2020 as the deadliest year since it has been keeping count, with 227 murders of environmental leaders across the planet, meaning, on average, four leaders killed per week and surpassing 2019’s record of 212 violent deaths.

Instead of reducing crimes, the pandemic made defenders an easier target by being locked up in their homes. The organization also warns of an increase in threats, with more arrests, smear campaigns, and criminalization under an anti-terrorist rhetoric.

LATIN AMERICA, MORE DANGEROUS BUT ALSO MORE COMBATIVE

Latin America remains the most dangerous region globally for environmental defenders: 3 out of every 4 attacks recorded in 2020 happened in the region, and 7 of the 10 most-affected countries are Latin American.

The high incidence happens in part because cases can be documented more easily, since “in other continents access to information is more limited (…), it is not that there are fewer cases but that many of them do not reach public sources,” Laura Furones, human rights activist at Global Witness, told Efe.

The strength of civil society and indigenous movements that survives strongly in Latin America, Furones stressed, allows for a “strong defense of resources” and leads to “confrontations and murders because of this peaceful opposition”.

After Colombia and Mexico, third place in the world is occupied by the Philippines (29), followed mostly by Latin American countries: Brazil with 20 murders, Honduras (17), Democratic Republic of Congo (15), Guatemala (13), Nicaragua (12), Peru (6), India (4), Indonesia (3), South Africa (2) and Thailand (2).

At the bottom of the ranking are Uganda, Iraq, Argentina, Costa Rica, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Canada, and Kiribati, with one defender killed per country.

WHY DO THEY HAPPEN?

High levels of violence add to the impunity to prosecute crimes. Indeed, that remains the great unknown: who is murdering them and why?

“The classic case of murder of human rights defenders is one in which the person exercises a peaceful opposition to a business or development project, be it forestry, mining or agribusiness; in this work of peaceful opposition they are murdered,” said Furones.

The organization’s data supports the thesis: 30% of the murders occurred in areas with logging, hydroelectric dams, infrastructure, mining, or large-scale agribusiness projects. Even so, in 112 cases, no clear link could be established.

Logging and deforestation were the sectors with the most attacks, with 23 deaths between Brazil, Nicaragua, Peru, and the Philippines, and a significant increase in Mexico, with 9 cases.

THE TARGET: INDIGENOUS PEOPLE, AFRO-DESCENDANTS, AND SMALL FARMERS

One-third of all murders were of indigenous people in Latin America and the Philippines.

In Colombia, with a continued rise in violence since 2017, a third of the murders were of indigenous or Afro-descendants and almost half of the small farmers. A spike in violence that in 2020 accounted for 29% of all fatal attacks documented in the Global Witness report.

That increase is explained in part “by the threat posed to paramilitaries and criminal organizations by the coca crop substitution programs — which provide incentives for farmers to plant other crops — that were included in the peace agreement with the FARC in 2016,” according to the report.

Global Witness recorded 17 cases where victims were targeted for their support or participation in illegal crop substitution programs.

SERIOUS SITUATION IN BRAZIL, MEXICO, AND NICARAGUA

In addition to being the second country with the most murders, Mexico experienced a 67% increase in these crimes compared to 2019. In Brazil, the organization highlights how covid-19 threatened in “extinguishing” indigenous communities, with little protection from the government.

Nicaragua also drew attention this year – a country of just 6 million people – where Global Witness recorded 12 murders in 2020 compared to 5 in 2019, making it the most dangerous country per capita.

PANDEMIC INCREASED KILLINGS

With these figures, Furones highlighted that the pandemic contributed to a paralysis of the administrative and legal system to prosecute those guilty of crimes, “and access to Justice has been greatly diminished.”

Despite impunity and violence, the researcher defended that the struggles of defenders are “crucial” and it should be “everyone’s role to protect them”, especially when there is “such a crucial decade ahead regarding the climate crisis, where time is running out, and the role of communities and local populations will be even more important”.