Siempre en pie

In 2022, Global Witness documented at least 177 killings of land and environmental defenders, with 88% occurring in Latin America. Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico accounted for over 70% of these deaths. The report highlights a critical situation in the Amazon, where 22% of global killings occurred, often linked to illegal mining and agroindustry. It also details the 'criminalization' of activists as a non-lethal strategy to silence dissent. The document advocates for the EU's proposed Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive to hold companies accountable for human rights and environmental abuses in their global supply chains.

• At least 177 land and environmental defenders were killed in 2022, contributing to a total of 1,910 homicides documented since 2012. Of these, 1,390 occurred after the adoption of the Paris Agreement on December 12, 2015.
• Latin America is the most dangerous region for defenders, accounting for 88% of the 2022 killings. Colombia recorded the highest number of deaths with 60, nearly double its 2021 figure of 33. Brazil had 34 deaths, and Mexico had 31.
• The Amazon biome is a critical hotspot for violence, accounting for 22% (39 out of 177) of the world's documented killings in 2022, including 11 indigenous people.
• Indigenous peoples are disproportionately targeted; they represented 36% of the 2022 killings despite making up only 6% of the global population.
• Agroindustry was the sector most linked to killings in 2022, connected to 10 cases (half in Mexico), followed by mining (8 cases) and logging (4 cases).
• Criminalization—including detention and prosecution—is a primary non-lethal strategy to silence defenders, representing 34% of recorded violations in 2022 according to Front Line Defenders.
• In the Philippines, 11 of the 16 documented killings in Asia occurred, with a third of all deaths since 2012 linked to mining operations. The government uses 'red-tagging' to accuse activists of communist insurgency.
• Illegal gold mining in the Kayapó territories of Brazil has increased by 1,271% over the last 35 years, with the extracted gold entering the supply chains of international companies including Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon via refineries like Chimet.
• In Vietnam, climate activists have been detained on tax evasion charges, including Hoang Thi Minh Hong and Dang Dinh Bach, while the government signs a $15.5 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) with the G7.
• The report argues that the EU's proposed Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive could be a turning point by requiring large companies to prevent human rights and environmental risks and allowing victims to seek justice in European courts.

APA

Global Witness (2023). Siempre en pie. https://globalwitness.org/es/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/standing-firm-es/

Chicago

Global Witness. Siempre en pie. 2023. https://globalwitness.org/es/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/standing-firm-es/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Global Witness |title=Siempre en pie |date=2023 |url=https://globalwitness.org/es/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/standing-firm-es/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{globalwitness2023siempre, author = {{Global Witness}}, title = {{Siempre en pie}}, institution = {Global Witness}, year = {2023}, url = {https://globalwitness.org/es/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/standing-firm-es/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }