Environmental killings
Environmental killings are murders or assassinations linked to environmental issues such as illegal logging, mining, land grabbing, and pollution. Victims have included not only environmental and land rights activists, but also members of indigenous communities and journalists who have reported on these issues.[1][2][3]
Statements
In 2003, the Environmental Justice Foundation reported that in at least 11 countries people had been murdered for opposing shrimp farming and its associated environmental impacts.[4]
According to Global Witness, the number of environmental killings worldwide reached 147 in 2012, and the total number of such murders between 2002 and 2013 exceeds 908.[1] In only six of these cases were the killers tried, convicted and punished. The report blames this level of impunity, together with the lack of attention to the issue, for the rise in the numbers of deaths.
In March 2014, when the United Nations Independent Expert on human rights and the environment, John Knox, presented his first detailed report to the UN Human Rights Council on the human rights obligations relating to environmental protection he stated: “Environmental human rights defenders deserve no less protection than other human rights defenders.”[5][6]
List of environmental killings
Following is a partial list of the victims of environmental killings:
By country
- Brazil: Luiz Araujo,[7][8] Vicente Cañas, Chico Mendes, Wilson Pinheiro, José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva, Dorothy Stang
- Cambodia: Chut Wutty, Hang Serei Odom
- Costa Rica: Jairo Mora Sandoval
- Honduras: Jeanette Kawas, Berta Cáceres
- Nigeria: Ken Saro-Wiwa
- Pakistan: Perween Rahman
- Philippines: Gerry Ortega, Leonard Co, Jojo Malinao, Philip Pestaño
- Saint Lucia: Jane Tipson
By date
19th century
20th century
21st century
In 21st century, more than 1000 environmental activists have been killed.
116 environmental activists were assassinated in 2014.[9] More than two environmentalists were assassinated every week in 2014.[10] 185 environmental activists were assassinated in 2015.[11]
Date | Activist name | Country | Cause |
25 August 2015 | Raimundo Santos Rodrigues (and his wife) | Brazil | Environmental rights defender.[12][13][14] |
Date | Activist name | Country | Cause |
3 March 2016 | Berta Cáceres | Honduras | Protests against the construction of Agua Zarca Dam. |
See also
References
- 1 2 Global Witness. 2014. Deadly Environment. The dramatic rise of killings of environmental and land defenders 1.1.2012-31.12.2013. Global Witness, London., retrieved 16 July 2014
- ↑ Revkin, A. When Journalists Are Dying to Expose Environmental Plunder. New York Times.17 September 2012, retrieved 16 April 2014
- ↑ Reporters Without Borders. 2009. The Dangers for Journalists Who Report Environmental Issues. Paris. September 2009, retrieved 16 April 2014
- ↑ EJF.2003. Smash & Grab: Conflict, Corruption and Human Rights Abuses in the Shrimp Farming Industry. Environmental Justice Foundation, London, UK, retrieved 16 April 2014
- ↑ United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 2014. UN expert urges States to take into account human rights obligations in their environmental policies. 11 March 2014., retrieved 16 April 2014
- ↑ "Environmental human rights defenders: emerging challenges and solutions - Universal Rights Group". Universal Rights Group. Retrieved 2016-02-10.
- ↑ Bevins, Vincent (14 October 2016). "The debate over saving rain forests has gotten ugly. Now a Brazilian environmental official is dead". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
- ↑ Knight, Nika (16 October 2016). "Environmental Official Shot Dead in Brazil as Attacks on Land Defenders Rise in Latin America". Common Dreams. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
- ↑ "Map: 116 environmental activists were killed in just one year". Grist.org. 5 March 2016. Retrieved 2016-09-25.
- ↑ Stout, David. "Environmental Activists Killed in Record Numbers in 2014". Time.com. Retrieved 2016-09-25.
- ↑ Holmes, Oliver; correspondent, South-east Asia (20 June 2016). "Environmental activist murders set record as 2015 became deadliest year". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-09-25.
- ↑ "Why are Brazil's environmentalists being murdered?". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2016-09-25.
- ↑ "Killings of environmental activists jumped by 20 percent last year". News.mongabay.com. Retrieved 2016-09-25.
- ↑