Global Witness documents 196 land and environmental defenders killed in 2023
Key excerpts from Missing voices: The violent erasure of land and environment defenders includes:
“196 defenders were murdered in 2023 after exercising their right to protect their lands and the environment from harm. The actual number is likely to be higher. This tips the total number of killings to over 2,000 globally since Global Witness started reporting data in 2012. Global Witness estimates that the total now stands at 2,106 murders.”
“43% were Indigenous Peoples and 12% murdered were women.”
In the countries where Peace Brigades International (PBI) provides physical accompaniment, is present or supports, 133 defenders were killed in 2023: Colombia (79), Honduras (18), Mexico (18), Nicaragua (10), Guatemala (4), Indonesia (3), USA (1).
“Establishing a direct relationship between the murder of a defender and specific corporate interests remains difficult. However, we were able to identify mining as the biggest industry driver by far, with 25 defenders killed after opposing mining operations in 2023. We were able to connect over 40% of killings in Mexico in 2023 to defenders opposing mining operations.”
“Murder continues to be a common strategy for silencing defenders and is unquestionably the most brutal. But as this report shows, 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 criminalisation. This is happening in every region of the world and in almost every sector.”
“Over 1,500 defenders have been murdered since the adoption of the Paris Agreement on climate change on 12 December 2015.”
Apart from calling on governments to prioritize and enforce existing laws and mechanisms, to establish new binding instruments and frameworks, to ensure access to an impartial and non-discriminatory justice system, and to facilitate access and genuine participation, Global Witness says businesses should systematically identify, prevent, document, mitigate and remedy harm caused to defenders in their operations.
To read the full report, including the recommendation on page 56-59, go to Missing voices: The violent erasure of land and environment defenders.
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