Since 2012, at least 413 land and environment advocates have been murdered or disappeared in Brazil, including 36 African descent
Brazil was in 2024 the fourth deadliest country for environmental advocates, according to a report by the Global Witness Non-Governmental Organization (NGO).
The document, released on Tuesday, estimates that 12 environmental activists were killed last year in Brazil, a balance that includes six small farmers, four indigenous people and one African descent.
Although the number of deadly victims has fallen from 2023 (25 deaths), the report stresses that there were more attempts to intimidate, death threats or attempted murder.
Citing data from the Brazilian Earth Pastoral Commission, Global Witness said that there were 481 attempts to murder, 44% against indigenous people and more than 27% against quilombola communities (descendants of fugitive slaves that formed self -sustainable communities).
Since 2012, at least 413 land and environment advocates have been murdered or disappeared in Brazil, including 36 African descent, he stressed the global Witness.
In total, almost 150 environmental activists were killed or disappeared worldwide last year, a particularly accentuated phenomenon in Latin America, particularly in Colombia, the organization said.
“Global Witness documented 146 prolonged murder and disappearances of land and environmental advocates in 2024,” says the NGO. This corresponds to “approximately three people (…) dead or missing every week over 2024”, he stresses.
This number is lower than 2023 (196 cases), but “This does not indicate that the situation of advocates is improving,” says the NGO, who believes the number of cases is underestimated in several countries.
According to Global Witness, more than four in five documented cases occurred in Latin America.
Colombia remains the deadliest country, with 48 murders registered last year, compared to 79 in 2023. The country represents a third of victims in the world.
The organization pointed to illegal agricultural production and drug trafficking as “a primary cause of violence” and highlighted the “culture of silence”.
“Many indigenous peoples, peasant communities, and African descent living in Colombia fear of expressing themselves against environmental damage caused by extractive industries, especially defenders who operate near armed groups and conflict zones,” says the NGO.
Of the 48 homicides registered last year in Colombia, at least 20 were from peasants and 19 members of indigenous communities, including 13 members of the NASA community in the Cauca department (Southwest), the report says.
Colombia, plagued by several armed groups that practice illegal mining and cocaine trafficking, is followed by Guatemala (20), Mexico (19), Brazil and Philippines (eight).
Since 2012, when Global Witness has started this census, the number of dead or missing environmental activists has reached 2,253.
