Microsoft Word - CIEL's Responses to EHRD Questionnaire Final.docx

The document outlines the severe risks faced by environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs), particularly indigenous people and women in the Americas and Cambodia. It identifies the root causes of these threats as the prioritization of profit from resource extraction and large-scale development over community rights and environmental health. The authors argue that a legally binding regional agreement based on Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration is essential to guarantee access to information, public participation, and justice in Latin America and the Caribbean to protect EHRDs and hold both State and corporate actors accountable.

• Environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs) face a wide spectrum of risks including surveillance, defamation, judicial harassment, physical torture, and assassination, which restricts public participation and increases environmental conflicts.
• Indigenous activists and women are disproportionately vulnerable to human rights violations in the Americas because resource extraction projects are frequently located on indigenous lands that governments often fail to formally recognize.
• The root causes of violence against EHRDs are linked to the pursuit of profit from resource exploitation and large-scale infrastructure projects, where governments and corporations prioritize economic growth over the consent and participation of impacted communities.
• Both State and non-State actors are involved in violations; States use excessive force, abusive legal charges, and anti-terrorism legislation to silence dissent, while corporations hire private security forces to commit violence and operate without free, prior, and informed consent.
• The authors advocate for a legally binding regional agreement on Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration in Latin America and the Caribbean to ensure access rights to information, participation, and remedy, which would hold both State and corporate actors accountable.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2016). Microsoft Word - CIEL's Responses to EHRD Questionnaire Final.docx. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/EHRD_24June2016.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Microsoft Word - CIEL's Responses to EHRD Questionnaire Final.docx. 2016. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/EHRD_24June2016.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Microsoft Word - CIEL's Responses to EHRD Questionnaire Final.docx |date=24 June 2016 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/EHRD_24June2016.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2016microsoft, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Microsoft Word - CIEL's Responses to EHRD Questionnaire Final.docx}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2016}, month = jun, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/EHRD_24June2016.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }