Défendre les territoires, défendre nos vies

The report documents the systemic persecution of environmental and land defenders in the Asia-Pacific region, linking this violence to a neoliberal economic model that prioritizes corporate profit and resource extraction over human rights. It provides case studies from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Palestine, Russia, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines to illustrate how large-scale infrastructure, energy, and agribusiness projects lead to land grabbing, environmental degradation, and the criminalization of activists. The document calls for a transition to community-led renewable energy, agroecology, and a legally binding UN treaty on transnational corporations to ensure corporate accountability and the protection of defenders.

• Environmental and land defenders, particularly indigenous peoples and peasants, face extreme risks of violence, with some reports indicating they are nearly three times more likely to be attacked than defenders in other sectors.
• In 2018, Global Witness recorded an average of three land defenders killed per week globally, totaling 164 murders, with the mining industry seeing the highest number of cases.
• The report argues that a neoliberal economic model drives land grabbing and resource conflicts, creating a systemic bias where international investment protections are legally binding while human rights protections for affected communities remain voluntary.
• China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is identified as a significant risk factor for the region due to its potential for increasing national debt, lack of environmental standards, and the requirement for vast land and resource acquisitions.
• In Bangladesh, the 1,320 MW Rampal coal power plant threatens the Sundarbans mangrove forest, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and has led to the forced displacement of 4,000 families since 2011.
• In Indonesia, the 'Transit Oriented Development' (TOD) Walini project, linked to the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail, has caused large-scale land grabbing and displacement of local populations without adequate consultation or compensation.
• Malaysia is experiencing widespread 'ocean grabbing' through coastal land reclamation projects in provinces such as Johor, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Penang, and Perak, which destroy marine biodiversity and deprive fishing communities of their livelihoods.
• Research in Hebron, Palestine, indicates severe radioactive contamination of soil and water, with uranium-238 levels over six times higher than normal, linked to suspected Israeli nuclear waste dumping and the use of depleted uranium weapons.
• The Russian state company Rosatom is expanding nuclear technology exports globally while maintaining a poor safety record domestically, exemplified by the Mayak plant's history of radiation leaks and a 2019 rocket engine test explosion in Arkhangelsk.
• In Sri Lanka, environmental defenders face criminalization and violence, with the state using security ordinances to prohibit protests against polluting landfills and resource extraction projects.
• In the Philippines, the expansion of the coffee industry has led to violent conflicts over ancestral lands, notably the 2017 massacre of eight T’boli Manobo leaders by the military.
• The report recommends the establishment of a legally binding UN Treaty on transnational corporations and the transformation of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) into a judicial body with enforcement powers.

APA

Hall, R., de Vera, R., Langam, T., & Cossar-Gilbert, S. (2019). Défendre les territoires, défendre nos vies. Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/protection-des-droits-humains-et-de-lenvironnement-en-Asie-Pacifique-au-moyen-dun-changement-de-systeme-Amis-de-la-Terre.pdf

Chicago

Hall, Ronnie, Romel de Vera, Theiva Langam, and Sam Cossar-Gilbert. Défendre les territoires, défendre nos vies. Friends of the Earth International, 2019. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/protection-des-droits-humains-et-de-lenvironnement-en-Asie-Pacifique-au-moyen-dun-changement-de-systeme-Amis-de-la-Terre.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hall |first1=Ronnie |last2=de Vera |first2=Romel |last3=Langam |first3=Theiva |last4=Cossar-Gilbert |first4=Sam |title=Défendre les territoires, défendre nos vies |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |date=November 2019 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/protection-des-droits-humains-et-de-lenvironnement-en-Asie-Pacifique-au-moyen-dun-changement-de-systeme-Amis-de-la-Terre.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hall2019dfendre, author = {Hall, Ronnie and de Vera, Romel and Langam, Theiva and Cossar-Gilbert, Sam}, title = {{Défendre les territoires, défendre nos vies}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2019}, month = nov, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/protection-des-droits-humains-et-de-lenvironnement-en-Asie-Pacifique-au-moyen-dun-changement-de-systeme-Amis-de-la-Terre.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }