Nearly nine out of ten killings of land and environmental defenders worldwide occurred in 2022 in Latin America, where Colombia is the country that recorded the highest number of deadly attacks, according to a report released today by Global Witness.

Among its conclusions, the report revealed that at least 177 activists were murdered last year and the new figure rose to 1,910 total kills the number of people protecting the planet between 2012 and 2022.

During the presentation of the report, Laura Furones, A senior adviser to the land and environmental campaign, said that “as has been the case in previous years, it is clear that the situation in Latin America continues to be worrying.”

Furones highlighted that 11 of the 18 countries where these cases were documented were from the region and that Colombia was the country “most affected by this serious problem”, with the highest number of “deadly attacks”.

“If we take into account all the global figures in the last decade, Colombia is the number one country in the number of killings of human rights defenders,” he said.

Specifically the country is registering in 2022 highest murder rate in the world, with a total of 60 deaths, more than a third of the murders occurred, more than any other murder.

Since 2012, at least 382 activists have been murdered in Colombia, which also makes it the country with the highest number of reported murders in the world during that period.

In Latin America, which is home to the majority of homicides recorded in 2022 – 88% – other countries with high rates of fatal attacks in the past year are Brazil, with 34 murders; Mexico, with 31; and Honduras, with 14. Outside these areas, a total of 11 human rights defenders were killed in the Philippines.

These findings are known ahead of COP28, scheduled for November in the United Arab Emirates, where progress made in implementing the Paris Agreement (2015) will be reviewed.

From then on, until December 31, 2022, 1,390 people human rights defenders, highlighted Global Witness, which lamented that the government did not conduct adequate investigations into these crimes and that the resulting impunity encouraged new attacks.

Shurti Suresh, one of the organization’s campaign directors, urged governments to “immediately address the senseless killing of those who defend our planet, including by protecting our most precious ecosystems, which play a fundamental role in addressing the climate emergency.” .

AMAZON, ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACES

This analysis shows the Amazon as one of the most dangerous places in the world for these activists and in the region last year, there were 39 murders, more than one in five – 22% – of those registered worldwide.

In total, at least 296 human rights defenders have been murdered in the Amazon since 2014.

This report highlights cases of indigenous rainforest communities facing threats from activities such as gold mining and logging.

Based on this, companies based in the United Kingdom, the European Union (EU) and the United States have been linked to human rights violations committed against these communities, as gold illegally extracted from Kayapó land has been found in the supply chain. Chimet precious metals refinery and mining company Golden Pancake.

Furones reminded that “indigenous peoples are the best guardians of forests and, therefore, play an important role in mitigating the climate crisis.”

However, he added that “in countries like Brazil, Peru and Venezuela they are harassed for doing this work.”