A record 207 environmental activists were killed in 2017
Last year was the most dangerous ever for conservationists, according to Global Witness, which accuses governments of being behind some of the deaths
More than 200 environmental activists were murdered last year as government-sponsored killings linked to lucrative projects by vast agriculture multinationals soared, a global rights watchdog warned on Tuesday.
Global Witness said it had documented 207 cases where activists were killed while trying to protect land from development, often for the production of consumer staples such as coffee and palm oil, making 2017 the deadliest year on record for environmentalists.
“As global demand for these products increases, there’s a scramble by business actors to get the massive amount of land they need to grow these products,” said Ben Leather, senior campaigner at Global Witness. “When people dare to stand up for their rights and demand that the environment be protected they are silenced in the most brutal way.”
The watchdog said it had found evidence that government actors – soldiers or police – were responsible for 53 of the deaths.
When people dare to stand up for their rights and demand that the environment be protected they are silenced in the most brutal way
“That’s only the triggermen so we can guess that in the cases where criminal gangs or other non-state actors carried out the attacks, the state may well have been involved,” Leather said. “In other cases where the government allowed businesses to enter without protecting local rights, they’re also complicit in the murders of these activists.”