Nearly 200 environmental defenders killed in 2023 globally

A recorded total of 196 environmental activists and land defenders from around the world were killed in 2023, watchdog Global Witness said Tuesday, with Colombia ranking as the deadliest place.

Latin America remained the most dangerous region of the world for environmental activists, with 85% of the killings occurring there.

Colombia saw 79 such murders in 2023 — the highest recorded for an individual country since the organization began its annual review in 2012. Brazil, Honduras and Mexico were next in line.

The report also alerted readers of a "crackdown on environmentalists across the UK, Europe and the US," warning that "laws are increasingly being weaponized against defenders." 

Colombia and climate activists

This is Colombia's second straight year of highest killings worldwide. Yet, it will host this year's COP16 meeting to discuss the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Most of the murders of activists in the South American country occurred in the southwestern regions.

Late on Monday, the Colombian government released a statement, saying it was "dishonorable" to top the Global Witness list.

"The national government recognizes the serious situation that is derived from socio-ecological conflicts associated with drug trafficking, extractivist practices connected to illicit economies and the reconfiguration of the armed conflict," it said.

"The figure is very embarrassing for us in the country," said Astrid Torres, coordinator for Somos Defensores, a Colombian human rights group. She said protecting the environment and its defenders was also the responsibility of state institutions like prosecutors. 

Where environmentalists face persecution

Central America has emerged as one of the most dangerous places in the world for defenders, the report said, adding that Honduras had the highest number of killings per capita in 2023.

"Governments cannot stand idly by; they must take decisive action to protect defenders and to address the underlying drivers of violence against them," Laura Furones, Lead Author and Senior Advisor to the Land and Environmental Defenders Campaign at Global Witness said.

"We cannot afford to, nor should we tolerate, losing any more lives."

Furones said the report's findings were conservative and likely incomplete.

Apart from lethal attacks, the report highlighted other actions taken against environmental and land defenders. It spoke of "enforced disappearances and abductions," tactics used in both the Philippines and Mexico in particular. The criminalization of activists is another tactic used to silence them, across the world, it said.

"We are facing difficulties in returning to our homes and communities. We are still experiencing surveillance, red-tagging, and intimidation," said Jonila Castro, a Filipino activist who was abducted by the Philippines military in 2023 and currently facing criminalization, the report said.

In Africa, Global Witness recorded four deaths but warned the figure was likely a "gross underestimate" due to difficulty in collecting information.

In the UK and US, the report pointed out harsher legislation, noting penalties for protesters and activists, along with "draconian levels of surveillance." 

mk/jsi (AFP, Reuters)