A new report, titled Defenders of the Earth, released by Global Witness, shows that nearly four people were murdered every week in 2016 “protecting their land and the natural world from industries like mining, logging and agribusiness.”
According to the report, activists defending their land and the environment face not only murder, but death threats, arrests, sexual assault and aggressive legal tactics.
The following chart shows the number of killings of land and environment defenders by country in 2016:
According to Global Witness, the killings of defenders are growing and spreading. In 2015 there were 185 killings across 16 countries, yet in 2016, the numbers grew to 200 killings in 24 countries. Nearly 40% of those murdered were indigenous. Police and military were behind at least 43 killings, with private actors (such as security guards and hitmen) behind at least 52.
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