Difensori dei diritti della terra e dell'ambiente in pericolo: una panoramica su casi recenti

This report by the Center for International Environmental Law provides an overview of the risks and persecution faced by land and environmental rights defenders in 2013. It details how individuals protecting natural resources and indigenous rights are targeted by state forces and non-state actors, including corporations and organized crime, often in the context of large-scale investment projects and extractive industries.

• Land and environmental rights defenders are identified as the second most vulnerable group regarding the risk of being killed.
• Defenders of land and environmental rights face a wide array of threats, including criminalization, arbitrary detention, harassment, and violent attacks, often occurring within a climate of impunity.
• The vulnerability of these defenders is exacerbated by global competition for land and resources, where national economic development often relies on the export of natural resources and the implementation of large-scale projects by state-owned or private multinational companies.
• Human rights defenders working for communities involved in large-scale development projects are frequently stigmatized by states as being 'anti-government', 'contrary to development', or 'enemies of the State'.
• In the Americas, defenders in Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico have faced severe violence and judicial persecution related to mining, hydroelectric dams, and agribusiness. Examples include the assassination of Elver Cordero Oviedo and Nelson Giraldo Posada in Colombia, and the detention of Berta Cáceres in Honduras.
• In Asia, defenders in Burma, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, South Korea, Thailand, and the Philippines face systemic repression. This includes the imprisonment of activists in Burma for protesting 'land grabbing' and the killing of indigenous leaders in the Philippines opposing mining projects like those of Glencore-Xstrata-SMI.
• In Africa, the report documents judicial persecution of the Mbororo people's defenders in Cameroon and the intimidation and arrest of community leaders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo opposing oil exploration in Virunga National Park by SOCO International.
• In Europe, the report highlights the arrest of the 'Arctic 30' Greenpeace activists in the Russian Federation for protesting Gazprom's oil drilling, and threats against environmentalist Alexey Kozlov.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (n.d.). Difensori dei diritti della terra e dell'ambiente in pericolo: una panoramica su casi recenti. https://www.ciel.org/Publications/Difensori_diritti_ambientali_Dec2013.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Difensori dei diritti della terra e dell'ambiente in pericolo: una panoramica su casi recenti. n.d. https://www.ciel.org/Publications/Difensori_diritti_ambientali_Dec2013.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Difensori dei diritti della terra e dell'ambiente in pericolo: una panoramica su casi recenti |url=https://www.ciel.org/Publications/Difensori_diritti_ambientali_Dec2013.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallawnddifensori, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Difensori dei diritti della terra e dell'ambiente in pericolo: una panoramica su casi recenti}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/Publications/Difensori_diritti_ambientali_Dec2013.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }