Green activist killings up by a fifth - Global Witness

[Judi Lynn]

Green activist killings up by a fifth - Global Witness
20 April 2015


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Anti-logging activist Edwin Chota was murdered
in Peru along with three other indigenous leaders
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Killings of environmental activists have risen by 20% in the last year, according to campaign group Global Witness.

A report published by the organisation said there were 116 deaths worldwide in 2014, including 29 in Brazil, 25 in Colombia and 15 in the Philippines.

Activists also faced abduction and other threats if they interfered in corporate or state interests, it added.

Last year saw a spike in killings related to hydropower programs.

Fourteen people died defending their land and rivers against dam projects.

'Hidden crisis'

Global Witness named Honduras as the most dangerous country for environmental activists, because of "regressive laws" and a climate of "near total impunity".

It has the highest number of killings per capita, with 111 deaths recorded since 2002.

More:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-32377110

Environment & Energy:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/112784358

[Judi Lynn]

1. Report reveals spike in killings of environmentalists

Report reveals spike in killings of environmentalists

Global Witness says 116 activists were killed last year, a 20 percent rise from the previous year.

A report released by Global Witness shows a 20 percent increase in the number of killings of land and environmental activists last year, highlighting Honduras as the most dangerous country to campaign in.

The document released by the UK-based non-governmental organisation states that 116 activists were killed in 2014, an average of two per week. Forty-seven of the victims were members of indigenous groups.

"Nearly three-quarters of killings occurred in Central and South America, with South East Asia second worst-hit," Global Witness said in Monday's report titled "How Many More?"

Activists in Brazil, Colombia and the Philippines were among the most targeted.

Honduras, the organisation said, was the most dangerous country per capita to be an environmental and land activist, with 111 killings between 2002 and 2014.

More:
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/04/report-reveals-spike-killings-environmentalists-150420144456224.html

[Judi Lynn]

2. Murders of Earth's Defenders: The Deadly Trend Continues

Published on Monday, April 20, 2015

by Common Dreams

Murders of Earth's Defenders: The Deadly Trend Continues


'The world is standing idle whilst people on the frontline of the struggle to protect the environment are getting killed'

by Andrea Germanos, staff writer

"How many more people will die before the world takes notice?"

That's a question posed by the organization Global Witness, whose new report, How Many More?, exposes what it calls a "hidden crisis" of murders of those who defend the earth from environmental destruction.

The "overarching theme" of the killings last year, which averaged more than two a week, involved disputes over control and use of land, but they also included incidents involving pollution, wildlife conservation, and illegal fishing. This year's report also found a spike in the deaths of those protesting hydroelectric dams.

The organization, which campaigns for transparency of global resource extraction, states that in 2014, 116 environmental and land defenders were killed—40 percent of whom were Indigenous. The report states that lack of accessible information makes that a likely conservative figure.

As one member of the Panamá community from the Bajo Aguán valley in Honduras states, according to the report: "Here the police, the military, prosecutors, judges, all of them are ready to defend the owners of the big farms, while we are the ones who are dying."

More:
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/04/20/murders-earths-defenders-deadly-trend-continues