At least 177 environmental defenders were murdered in 2022 around the world, including around sixty in Colombia, the most dangerous country for these activists, according to the annual report by the NGO Global Witness published Tuesday.
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Although this overall figure is slightly lower than the previous year (200 deaths), “the situation has not improved substantially” worldwide and the average of one activist killed every two days increases. is maintained, commented the British organization.
In 2022, Latin America accounted for 88% of these 177 victims globally, including 60 in Colombia alone, a figure that doubled compared to 2021.
AFP
“Once again, indigenous peoples, communities of African origin, small farmers and environmental defenders have been hit hard in this South American country,” warns Global Witness.
Since coming to power in August 2022, left-wing President Gustavo Petro has pledged to reduce violence against these activists and other community leaders, but his actions have been insufficient according to local NGOs.
Plagued by multiple armed conflicts for half a century, Colombia has always been one of the deadliest countries in the world for environmental defenders. It is experiencing an upsurge in violence and a renewed activism of armed groups almost always involved in illegal activities (drug trafficking, mining, timber trafficking, etc.).
Elsewhere in the world, the defense of nature cost the lives of 34 people in Brazil, 31 in Mexico, 14 in Honduras, and 11 in the Philippines.
“Not one more death”
“It remains difficult to specify the exact causes of these murders,” recognizes Global Witness, but most of them are linked to agro-industry, mining and forestry, and access to water. and poaching.
Children were also targeted: “three in Brazil, one in Colombia and one in Mexico. Three of them were natives,” according to the report.
AFP
AFP interviewed one of these activists threatened in Colombia, Nadia Umana, a 35-year-old sociologist. She is a member of an organization which recovers land stolen from peasants by paramilitaries on the border between Magdalena and Cesar, two departments historically marked by the violence of these far-right militias who invest there in cattle breeding, palm oil plantations or illegal mines.
Four of his fellow fighters have already been assassinated. “Knowing that one of your comrades was murdered is a pain that has no words,” Ms. Umana told AFP in Bogota.
She denounces “a systematic attack” against her organization for opposing the paramilitaries and their illegal activities. “Defending the environment, defending nature, defending the earth (…) here in Colombia is a risky job,” she laments.
Tired of the threats, Ms. Umana and her comrades are now fighting remotely from the capital. “We made the decision not to expose ourselves to one more death,” she explains.
Another emblematic example, the current vice-president of the country, the Afro-Colombian Francia Marquez, winner of the 2018 Goldman Prize – often compared to an environmental Nobel – has received multiple threats and been the target of several attacks in his years of activism.
In 2019, before coming to power, she survived a grenade attack and shooting for defending access to clean water for black communities affected by illegal mining.
Still the Amazon
The Amazon rainforest (spanning eight countries), devoured by logging and arson to make way for cattle ranching, also experienced a deadly 2022 for environmental defenders.
AFP
“Last year, 39 defenders died there. Among them, 11 belonged to indigenous communities,” according to Global Witness.
“Year after year, those who defend this biome (…) give up their lives to protect their homes, their livelihoods and the health of our planet,” warns the NGO.
In 2022, the assassination of British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenist expert Bruno Pereira in the Brazilian Amazon became a symbol of the growing violence in this region where drug traffickers, illegal miners and poachers operate.
In Brazil, environmentalists had to face “relentless hostility” from former President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022). And Mexico, the deadliest country in 2021, “recorded a notable drop”, going from 54 to 31, but the situation there remains “alarming”, judges the NGO.
“At least 1,910 land and environmental defenders have lost their lives around the world since Global Witness began documenting these killings in 2012,” says this new report. Of this total, 70% was recorded in Latin America.