Activist killings: How campaigners’ slayings hurt environmental protection in Colombia
OLIVER GRIFFIN, of Reuters, reports on the price some 60 environmentalists paid for their work in Colombia last year…
Latin American environmentalists most at risk of murder, report finds
Mexico City, Mexico Reuters More environmentalists were killed in Latin America than any other region in the world last year, according to a report by advocacy group Global Witness, underscoring the growing threat to activists in the resource-rich region. Of the 200 environmentalists killed globally in 2021, three-quarters of them were from Latin America, the […]
Killings of Colombia environmental activists hit record, NGO says, despite gov’t promises
Putumayo Province, Colombia Reuters An environmental activist in southern Colombia’s steamy jungle province of Putumayo was preparing to run some errands earlier this year when she received a warning from a contact, she said. “He wrote me a message saying it’s better I don’t go outside…They’ve sent someone to kill you three times already,” she […]
“War means blood”: Can a treaty stop Latin American activists being killed?
Bogota, ColombiaThomson Reuters Foundation A treaty aimed at protecting activists in Latin America could be a “life-saving” watershed in a region where scores are murdered each year, but the pact’s success will depend on the commitment of governments and big business, rights advocates said. Nicaraguan activist Lottie Cunningham, who described the Escazu treaty as “extremely […]
Deadly land conflicts seen rising as threat from industry grows
Bangkok, ThailandThomson Reuters Foundation At least 212 people were killed last year while defending their land from being taken over by industry, Global Witness said on Wednesday, the deadliest year since the advocacy group began compiling data in 2012. More than half the killings were in Colombia and the Philippines and Indigenous people made up […]
Clean energy or food? Asian nations grapple with new demands on land
Bangkok, ThailandThomson Reuters Foundation Huge renewable energy projects planned in Asia, such as solar parks and hydropower dams, risk accelerating the conversion of farmland, uprooting communities and destroying livelihoods, energy experts and human rights activists warned on Tuesday. As they look to curb climate changing emissions, some of the most rapid transitions to renewable energy […]
Philippines is world’s deadliest nation for land rights: campaign group
Bangkok, ThailandThomson Reuters Foundation More than three people were murdered each week last year while protecting their land from encroaching industries, a human rights group said on Tuesday, with a four-fold increase in killings related to conflicts over water. At least 164 farmers and land rights activists were killed worldwide last year, with the Philippines […]
In battles over land rights, activists are branded as criminals, says UN
Thomson Reuters Foundation Governments and corporations are increasingly using legal persecution to portray indigenous activists as criminals and terrorists, putting them at heightened risk of violence, the United Nations said on Monday. Indigenous leaders and campaigners fighting to protect land from development are being stymied and silenced by rising militarization, national security acts and anti-terrorism […]
Almost four land activists killed per week in deadliest year on record – campaigners
Thomson Reuters Foundation Nearly four land and environmental activists were killed each week last year, murdered for opposing large-scale agriculture and mining projects in the deadliest year on record, a campaign group said on Tuesday. In 22 countries surveyed by UK-based Global Witness, at least 207 activists were killed, making 2017 the deadliest year since […]
Philippines tops bloody year of land-rights killings – report
Thomson Reuters Foundation More than two people were killed every week on average this year defending their right to land and resources, with the Philippines recording the highest number of casualties amidst a government crackdown on rural communities, a rights group said. In the fight for land and the environment, communities around the world are […]