The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Thousands of land and environmental activists killed since 2012 including five in Uganda
ANALYSIS | RONALD MUSOKE | Nearly 200 land and environmental defenders were killed last year while working to protect their homes, communities, and the planet, according to a new report released on Sept.10 by Global Witness and its partners around the world.
According to the report, 196 land and environmental defenders were killed in 2023 bringing the total number of defender killings to 2,106 over the last decade.
The report, “Missing voices: The Violent Erasure of Land and Environmental Defenders” notes that murder continues to be a common strategy for silencing defenders and is unquestionably the most brutal.
But lethal attacks often occur alongside wider retaliations against defenders who are being targeted by government, business and other non-state actors with violence, intimidation, smear campaigns and criminalization.
The report notes that, worldwide, indigenous peoples and people of African descent continue to be disproportionately targeted, accounting for 49% of total murders.
“Murdered defenders were, in different ways, trying to protect the planet and to uphold their fundamental human rights,” the report notes in part. The report says the killing of land and environmental defenders is happening in every region of the world and in almost every sector.
In the report’s foreword, Nonhle Mbuthuma, a South African activist and Goldman Environmental Prize Winner 2024, notes that, “Across every corner of the globe, those who dare to expose the devastating impact of extractive industries—deforestation, pollution, and land grabbing—are met with violence and intimidation. This is especially true for indigenous peoples, who are essential in the fight against climate change, yet are disproportionately targeted year after year.
“Yet the brutality of these attacks reveals something profound: the power that ordinary people wield when they unite for justice. Leaders have a duty to listen and ensure that land and environmental defenders can speak out, everywhere, without fear of reprisal. This responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of every wealthy and resource-rich nation worldwide.”
While establishing a direct relationship between the murder of a defender and specific corporate interests remains difficult, Global Witness identified mining as the biggest industry driver by far, with 25 defenders killed after opposing mining operations in 2023. Other industries include fishing (5), logging (5), agribusiness (4), roads and infrastructure (4) and hydropower (2).
In total, 23 of the 25 mining-related killings globally last year happened in Latin America. But more than 40% of all mining-related killings between 2012 and 2023 occurred in Asia – home to significant natural reserves of key critical minerals vital for clean energy technologies.
Asia
In Asia, 468 defenders were murdered between 2012 and 2023 – 64% in the Philippines (298), with additional cases in India (86), Indonesia (20) and Thailand (13). In 2023, Global Witness recorded killings in the Philippines (17), India (5) and Indonesia (3).
The report notes that non-lethal attacks are also increasingly being used as tactics to suppress activism across the region. The non-profit, Forum Asia, identified judicial harassment as the most recorded violation against human rights defenders in Asia in 2021 and 2022, documenting 1,033 incidents.
Global Witness has also reported seven enforced disappearances in the Philippines, with the trend appearing to extend to other countries in 2024. The abduction of land and environmental defenders in Southeast Asia has emerged as a critical issue, reflecting broader systemic efforts by power holders to suppress dissent and maintain control over land and resources.
Africa
In Africa, two defenders were murdered in the Democratic Republic of Congo, one in Rwanda and one in Ghana in 2023. However, between 2012 and 2023, 116 defenders were murdered in Africa, most of them park rangers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (74).
Global Witness has also documented cases in Kenya (6), South Africa (6), Chad (5), Uganda (5), Liberia (3) and Burkina Faso (2), among other countries. “These chilling figures are most likely a gross underestimate as access to information continues to be a challenge across the continent,” says the report.
Colombia most dangerous
Latin America, however, has consistently registered the most murders of land and environmental defenders. Of all murders committed last year (79 murders), 85% of cases were committed in this part of the world. Of those murdered in 2023, 43% were indigenous people and 12% were women.
Lethal attacks against land and environmental defenders were concentrated in four key countries that accounted for more than 70% of murders: Brazil, Colombia, Honduras and Mexico.
Colombia is the world’s deadliest country for land and environmental defenders, with 79 murdered in 2023 – 40% of all reported cases. With 461 killings from 2012 to 2023, Colombia has the highest number of reported environmental defender killings globally on record.
A total of 31 of the killings in Colombia in 2023 were Indigenous Peoples and six were members of Afro-descendant communities. The report notes that many families across the country have been disproportionately affected by armed conflicts, land disputes, and human rights violations exacerbated by over half a century of armed conflict. The overwhelming majority of attacks are in the southwestern regions of Cauca (26), Nariño (9) and Putumayo.
A mix of coca cultivation, drug trafficking and armed conflict has devasted these regions, with defenders and communities often caught in the crossfire. Organised crime groups are suspected to be the perpetrators of half of all defender murders in Colombia in 2023, the report notes.
Govt commitment not good enough
Global Witness notes that while the government of President Gustavo Petro has made commitments to reduce violence, these have not yet led to a decrease in reprisals against some of the country’s most vulnerable activists and communities.
On the contrary, violence against human rights defenders and social leaders appears to be increasing, with the Colombian organization Programa Somos Defensores reporting no significant improvement in overall trends.
“The Colombian government has a historic opportunity to address these challenges as the host of the Convention on Biological Biodiversity (CBD COP), which will be held in October 2024,” says the report.
“The Colombian Minister of Environment, Susana Muhamad, has stated that the theme of COP16 will be ‘Peace with Nature,’ which seeks to highlight the voices of those who are taking care of the biodiversity and the territories.”
“Colombia will have the CBD presidency for two years until the next COP in 2026. This presents them with a unique opportunity to lead transformational change on the role environmental defenders and civil society play at COPs.”
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is the international legal instrument for “the conservation of biological diversity.” The CBD’s governing body is the Conference of the Parties (COP), which meets every two years. In 2024, Colombia will host the CBD COP16 in Cali.
An important outcome of CBD COP negotiations is the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) that was adopted by parties in 2022. The GBF sets out an ambitious pathway to achieve harmony with nature by 2050 with specific recognition of the need to fully protect environmental human rights defenders.
Target-22 commits to “the full, equitable, inclusive, effective, and gender-responsive representation and participation” of defenders in decision-making. It also recognizes the cultural, territorial and resource rights of indigenous peoples and local communities to access justice and information related to biodiversity.
Indigenous community-managed lands
Environmental defenders, and in particular indigenous peoples, play a vital role in protecting biodiversity, defending climate-critical forests, habitats and ecosystems. Across 90 countries, they steward more than a third of the Earth’s protected land and preserve an estimated 80% percent of the world’s remaining biodiversity.
Research shows that indigenous-managed lands have lower deforestation rates and better conservation outcomes than protection zones that exclude indigenous peoples. The Colombian government has committed to placing environmental defenders at the centre of COP16.
Disappearance abductions
As well as highlighting the number of killings worldwide, the report unearths wider trends in non-lethal attacks and their harmful impacts on communities globally. It highlights cases of enforced disappearances and abductions, pointed tactics used in both the Philippines and Mexico in particular, as well as the wider use of criminalization as a tactic to silence activists across the world.
The report also explores the crackdown on environmental activists across the UK, Europe and the US, where laws are increasingly being weaponized against defenders, and harsh sentences are more frequently imposed on those who have played a role in climate protests. The findings form part of a concerning trend of criminalization cases emerging worldwide.
Jonila Castro, a Filipino activist who was abducted by the Philippines military in 2023 and is currently facing criminalization, features in the report. She told the researchers that even after her release from abduction, threats continued.
“We are facing difficulties in returning to our homes and communities. We are still experiencing surveillance, red-tagging, and intimidation. Attacks to silence environmental defenders challenge our advocacy for environmental protection and people’s rights,” Castro said.
“Environmental devastation and human rights violations are interconnected, both sustained by governments and the extractive systems they defend. Our experience highlights the urgent need for stronger protection and recognition of community activists and environmental defenders in the global fight for climate justice.”
Climate change worsening attacks
Despite the escalating climate crisis – and governments pledging to achieve the Paris Agreement target of 1.5°C – land and environmental defenders are being increasingly subject to a wide range of attacks to stop their efforts to protect the planet. At least 1,500 defenders have been killed since the adoption of the Paris Agreement on 12 December 2015.
Laura Furones, the lead author of the report who also doubles as the Senior Advisor to the Land and Environmental Defenders Campaign at Global Witness noted that as the climate crisis accelerates, those who use their voice to courageously defend the planet are being met with violence, intimidation, and murder.
“Our data shows that the number of killings remains alarmingly high, a situation that is simply unacceptable,” she said.
“Governments cannot stand idly by; they must take decisive action to protect defenders and to address the underlying drivers of violence against them. Activists and their communities are essential in efforts to prevent and remedy harms caused by climate damaging industries. We cannot afford to, nor should we tolerate, losing any more lives.”
Recommendations
Going forward, Global Witness notes that in order to protect land and environmental defenders, governments around the world should start systematically documenting attacks and reprisals.
“New and better data on these attacks and their causes would enable governments to improve existing laws and mechanisms. Given the limited progress made so far, we need urgent acceleration,” says Global Witness.
“It is essential that governments collect data on reprisals against defenders. Data gathering must be transparent and participatory; it is often defenders themselves that have the most detailed information on reprisals. Data must also be collected in line with governments’ commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals.”
“Where possible, this should include data broken down to reveal any violence faced by vulnerable groups such as indigenous peoples, women and girls, and land and environmental defenders.”
“Systems to document reprisals should also incorporate effective monitoring, including monitoring of civic space where it is compromised and monitoring of impunity linked to attacks against defenders, which would help to disincentivize attacks and establish effective remedies for reprisals.”
The report notes that defenders should be able to freely exercise their roles without fearing for their lives, adding that existing laws and mechanisms that protect and recognise defenders – while tackling the causes of attacks against them – need to be prioritized and enforced.
Global Witness says as long as reprisals against defenders remain unpunished, they are likely to continue. “That is why it is essential that defenders have access to an impartial and non-discriminatory justice system and that their fundamental rights are upheld,” the report states.
Global Witness also wants corporations and businesses to establish systems that systematically identify, prevent, document, mitigate and remedy harm caused to defenders in their operations.
“Businesses must implement robust procedures that identify, prevent, mitigate and remedy human rights and environmental harm throughout their operations including undertaking due diligence on their entire supply and value chains,” states the report.
“They should use data on attacks, on trends affecting civic space and on key causes of harm as starting points to inform business decisions. Businesses should also monitor cases of reprisals, identify systemic risks, and adapt relevant business activities following genuine stakeholder engagement.”
Global Witness also wants both the European Union and the U.S Government to leverage their global human rights-related initiatives to rein-in abusers of land and environmental defenders.
For example, Global Witness wants the EU to make it obligatory for large companies to conduct human rights and environmental due diligence across their global supply chains using its new law known as “the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD).” The CSDDD particularly gives communities and defenders the right to submit complaints and sue companies in EU courts if companies cause harm to people and the planet.
The global body also says the US has several legislative and policy tools that could effectively support the protection of defenders including the Guidelines for US Diplomatic Mission Support to Civil Society and Human Rights Defenders.
Global Witness says the US Congress should introduce robust legislation in support of land and environmental defenders, such as the recently introduced Human Rights Defenders Protection Act.
“It should also ensure that human right conditions are placed where security forces are engaged in egregious attacks against land and environmental defenders,” the global organization said.
