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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element"> <font
size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/enemies-state/">https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/enemies-state/</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Enemies of the State? <br>
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<p><font size="+1"><b>How governments and businesses silence
land and environmental defenders </b></font></p>
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<div class="reader-estimated-time">July 30, 2019<br>
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<p>Calls to protect
the planet are growing louder – but around the world,
those defending their
land and our environment are being silenced. More than
three such people were murdered
on average every week in 2018, with attacks driven by
destructive industries
like mining, logging and agribusiness.</p>
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<h2>Our Findings<br>
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<p>Julián Carrillo knew he was in danger long before
his body was
found riddled with bullets in October 2018. He was
the sixth member of his
family to die in two years after opposing mining on
their community’s land in
Mexico. </p>
<p>Days earlier, gunmen had massacred nine men, women
and children
over a long-running land dispute on the island of
Negros, in central
Philippines.</p>
<p>And in Iran, renowned academic Kavous Seyed-Emami
died in prison
in suspicious circumstances, one of nine
environmentalists jailed over
accusations that they were using their work
protecting cheetahs as a cover for
spying.</p>
<p>Because many other deaths go unrecorded, the
figures in this
report are almost certainly a sizeable
underestimate. Nonetheless, the stories
it tells show how a growing demand for land to meet
consumer demand is driving
deadly violence around the world. </p>
<ul>
<li>In 2018 <b>Guatemala</b> recorded the sharpest
rise in murders, which jumped more
than fivefold to make it the deadliest country per
capita.</li>
<li><b>The
Philippines</b> had the highest number of
killings of any country this year, with
at least 30 defenders murdered.</li>
<li><b>Mining </b>was the worst sector, causing 43
deaths, though deaths related to conflicts over <b>water
sources</b> also surged. Attacks driven by
agribusiness, logging
and hydropower continued too.</li>
<li>Private security groups, state forces and
contract killers –
sometimes working together – are all suspected of
carrying out killings. </li>
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<h2>Criminalisation of Defenders<br>
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<p><b><a
href="https://act.globalwitness.org/page/45197/subscribe/1">Stand
with Environmental Defenders.</a></b></p>
<p>But deadly violence is only the most visible of the
myriad threats
that defenders face. </p>
<p>Across continents, governments and companies are
also using
countries’ courts and legal systems as instruments
of oppression against those
who threaten their power and interests. </p>
<p>That’s why this year, for the first time, we have
documented the many
ways that defenders are being criminalised,
including: </p>
<ul>
<li>In
some countries, the state is labelling defenders
as terrorists or
enemies of the state, as
in the case of nine environmentalists who were
jailed in Iran, accused of
spying.</li>
<li>As we have seen with the crackdown on
anti-fracking activism in
the UK, governments and industry are also flexing
national laws to outlaw
protest.</li>
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<p>Criminalising
defenders in this way makes attacks on them seem
legitimate, making them more
likely. These trends continue across the globe,
helped by populist
politicians who are stripping away vital
environmental protections when we need
them most. </p>
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<h2>How to Stop the Silencing<br>
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<p>The failure of
many governments and companies to act responsibly,
ethically or even legally is
a major driving force behind crimes committed
against land
and environment defenders. <br>
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<p>Businesses have a
duty to ensure their customers are not unwittingly
supporting projects that drive
people out of their homes or devastate ecosystems.
Consumers have a right to
demand that these companies live up to their
responsibilities. </p>
<p>Moreover, <a
href="https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/land-deals/land-grabbing-starts-in-our-financial-centres/">as
our investigations have shown</a>, the
projects driving these environmental and human
rights abuses are often funded
by ordinary people’s savings or investments, more
often than not without their
knowledge. From energy to
agriculture, so-called development projects in much
of the world are driving
rampant deforestation, mass displacement and climate
chaos. </p>
<p>Governments,
investors and business all have the power to protect
the environment and those
that defend it. Ordinary people –
as consumers, pension holders and voters – can help
make these changes happen.</p>
<p>As we hurtle
towards climate breakdown, it is more important than
ever that we break the
cycle of silence that allows the powerful to trample
over human rights and the
natural world. We must ensure that the voices of
land and environment defenders
are heard. </p>
<p>We all live on
the same planet. We are all connected by our shared
humanity. We all share a
common future that will be defined by what we do to
protect our environment. If
you agree with this idea, then stand with defenders
and support their voices.<br>
</p>
<p><b><a
href="https://act.globalwitness.org/page/45197/subscribe/1">Find
out what you can do here.</a></b><br>
</p>
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<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
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