It’s 2019. Otilia Martínez Cruz and her 20-year-old son Gregorio Chaparro Cruz are part of the indigenous tarahumara community in Mexico. They have long fought to stop illegal deforestation in their ancestral lands in the Sierra Madre. Those who profit from illegal deforestation try to prevent it at all costs and hire hit men. A few months later, mother and son are found dead in front of their home in El Chapote, in the northeast of the country.
The following year, Óscar Eyraud Adams, of the Kumiai indigenous community, was murdered in Tecate, once again in Mexico, for defending the territory’s water, which was beginning to run out due to growing drought. Eyraud Adams wanted the whole community to have access to water, and he worked to ask the authorities for permission to create new water wells, mother Norma Adams Cuero said. He has rarely been granted this right. “Large companies have much easier access to water. It’s not fair: we need it to survive, ”said Eyraud Adams.
The murders of “defenders of the earth and the environment” do not stop: since 2012 the NGO Global witness has been collecting documents, testimonies and data on these stories and in a recent report concluded that more than 1,700 people have been killed in the last ten years . In 2021 alone, nearly four were killed every week, from Mexico to Brazil, from the Philippines to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Few investigations
The exploitation of ecosystems, which largely contributes to causing the climate crisis, also drives violence against those fighting to protect the climate and the planet. And according to Global witness, what we know about the climate crisis reflects what is at the root of this violence: its impacts are unequal, some large companies are responsible, governments contribute to the causes, without being able to prevent them in any way.
As well as Global witness, other organizations for the defense of rights have documented over the years how companies and financial institutions continue to operate with almost total impunity, aiming for profit and ignoring or, worse still, hiding violations of human rights and the exploitation of ecosystems. .
“The killings of defenders are very rarely investigated. In some cases, governments hinder them because there is collusion with the company at the local or regional level and this becomes a key factor, ”Ali Hines, senior, explained to Internazionale. campaigner by Global witness. “If no one is held responsible, the green light is given to act with impunity”.
Because the balance of power is in favor of companies and not people or communities, a company is rarely held accountable for the consequences of its activities.
It is equally rare for anyone to be arrested or taken to court for killing defenders of the land and the environment: in 2021, more than a quarter were associated with mining and large-scale logging and agribusiness. However, the NGO argues, this figure is likely to be higher, precisely because attacks are often not adequately reported, reported and investigated. In most cases where it has not been possible to identify a specific sector as a direct cause of the violence, conflict over land control is a trigger.
Global witness points out that it is evident that many companies are committed “to an extractive economic model that prevails over profit over damage to human beings and the environment. The sectors involved that we have identified over the years are still the same and, on a general level, it is the extraction of resources driven by profit that takes priority over social protections, ”said Hines.
The underlying issues concern structural, economic and social inequalities. In fact, the violence against the defenders of the land and the environment is concentrated in the countries of the southern hemisphere and in marginalized communities. In 2020, all 227 kills of defenders recorded by Global Witness (except one) occurred in the global south. Between 2015 and 2019, more than a third of all murders involved indigenous communities, which represent only 5 percent of the world‘s population but preserve 80 percent of global biodiversity.
Silence those who report
When they fail to kill, the attacks consist of death threats, criminalization, rape, or persecution.
In Papua New Guinea, Cressida Kuala, founder of the Porgera Red Wara Women’s Association, works to help indigenous women who have been displaced by mining operations or sexually abused by company employees. After denouncing the devastating impact of mining in her community, she received threats and was raped in 2019. Despite the dangers she faces, she continues to fight for the recognition of women’s rights.
In some cases, the goal is to silence those who raise criticism or shed light on illegal activity and abuse by forcing people to spend time and money defending themselves against libel and attack. In South Africa, Lucky Shabalala led a community protest against a coal mine run by the Ikwezi mining company. Shabalala was charged with assault and intimidation and taken to court. The company withdrew the lawsuit in July 2019, but the use of similar tactics against environmental activists is increasingly common, Global witness points out.
Furthermore, in countries where civil society is weakened, with high levels of corruption grappling with internal conflicts, the killings of those who try to defend the environment can be more frequent.
In Brazil, where deforestation reached record levels under the Bolsonaro presidency, large international companies such as Ferrero, Hershey’s, Kellogg, Mondelez, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Unilever, Adm, Bunge, Cargill, Danone and others continue to purchase palm oil from Brasil biofuels (Bbf) and Agropalma. According to Global witness, this activity contributes to violence, illegal land grabbing and forced eviction of local indigenous communities, but both companies deny the allegations, despite
indigenous peoples living in the area shared testimonies of intimidation, torture and physical abuse committed by armed security guards and militias who appear to have been hired by the BBF.
The presidential elections in Brazil, which see the current president Jair Bolsonaro in the ballot against Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva, will also have important consequences for the protection of indigenous communities and the safeguarding of ecosystems. “The elections in Brazil have been described as the last chance to save the Amazon,” said Hines. “We have seen how the Bolsonaro government over the past four years has not only failed to address violence, but has actively jeopardized the rights and safety of indigenous peoples.” According to Hines, Brazil is the perfect example of how the climate crisis and the risks that defenders run are intertwined. Defenders of the earth and the environment are not only fighting against the exploitation of ecosystems and polluting activities, but also leading action against the climate emergency.
There have also been positive results over the years. After one of South Africa’s largest post-partheid protests in December 2021, the indigenous communities of the Wild Coast in the Eastern Cape have achieved a major legal result against oil giant Shell. The victory was a crucial step in the fight against climate change, particularly after the historic decision of a Dutch court that in 2021 requested Shell to reduce its emissions by 45 percent by the end of 2030.
“The defenders are at the forefront of the climate crisis, they are suffering the worst impacts of climate change and extreme weather events, be it fires in the Amazon or floods in the Philippines,” said Hines, “but they are they too who fight against industries that destroy the climate and the planet, whether it be deforestation or oil and gas industries ”.