Global Witness's annual report puts the number of environmental activists killed in 2018 at 164. The Philippines, Colombia and India are the most dangerous countries.
No fewer than 164. That is the number of environmental activists who were killed during 2018, according to the annual report by the non-governmental organisation Global Witness. The document was published on Tuesday 30 July and paints a chilling picture for those who fight, among other things, against mining projects, deforestation and the intensive exploitation of agricultural land. The document specifies that the number of activists forced into silence through threats, intimidation, violence or laws banning demonstrations is "countless".
In geographical terms, in 2018 the Philippines was by far the most dangerous country in the world for environmentalists. A total of 30 people were killed there, in particular indigenous leaders attempting to defend their lands. In second place was Colombia, with 24 killings, and in third India with 23. Relative to population, it is Guatemala that recorded the highest number of killings: as many as 16.
"This is a phenomenon that exists everywhere in the world. Defenders of the environment and of land, a significant number of whom belong to indigenous peoples, are often regarded as terrorists or criminals. This is because they dare to defend their rights, or simply because they live in territories coveted by others," stressed Vicky Tauli-Corpuz, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples.
The 2018 figures are nonetheless lower than the previous year. Global Witness itself, in its 2017 report, had spoken of 207 activists killed worldwide. That had been a record, which had beaten the previous one, recorded in 2016: at the time, the death toll had stood at 200.
The non-governmental organisation also cites the bloodiest single event of 2018: a massacre that took place in the state of Tamil Nadu, in southern India. During a protest against a copper mine, no fewer than thirteen people lost their lives. At least eight activists were killed in the Brazilian state of Pará, while in the Philippines nine sugarcane farmers were killed on the island of Negros. Among them were women and children.
