Environmental activists are being murdered in record numbers

[Saria]

This is not a new phenomenon, but it’s getting worse.

It has always been dangerous to be an environmental activist. It’s always been dangerous to be any kind of progressive or left-wing activist; virtually every massacre of peaceful protesters in history has been against some form of left-wing activism: pro-democracy, labour rights, anti-racism, anti-war… the list goes on and on and on. But as the climate crisis becomes more acute, there are more and more effective protests that can be stopped no other way, and those who pollute and exploit are becoming more desperate to wring out the last profits they can before the gravy train inevitably stops.

# Environmental activists being murdered is distressingly widespread

A report published by Global Witness tallied 227 murdered environmental activists in 2020 alone, the worst year on record so far.

As the report explains, that number is certainly an underestimate. Because the worst crimes occur in the countries with the most repressive regimes, and/or where it is least safe to be a journalist, the likelihood of incidents going unreported or being covered up is very high. (In fact, the report has only been out a few weeks, and the number has already been revised upward.)

And of course, it is very, very rare that these murders end up with any form of justice. For example, in Mexico, which had the second highest number of murders, 95% did not end in any prosecutions.

Targeted murders are the most dramatic manifestation of the problem, but violence against environmental activists is widespread, and it’s deeply systemic. As the report notes, the worst violence occurs in the global south, in poorer countries or countries with weaker or more-easily-bribed governments… what’s called the “colonial periphery”. The reason for this is simply that the companies doing the environmental exploitation can get away with hiring murderous goons in those countries. The local police can either be bribed to look the other way, or straight-up hired to pull the trigger.

In most countries, though, the violence has to be done more subtly. Oh, the local police are still the instruments of the violence. They just do it with a more sophisticated veneer of legitimacy.

# Environmental activists facing slightly-less-than-murderous violence is even more common

I’m going to use a Canadian example, because Canada is my playground. I’m going to focus on a single case, the Fairy Creek protests, only because they are the most recent and the largest. But the flavour of the Fairy Creek case is not unique. I could just as easily use the Wetʼsuwetʼen protests*, or 1492 Land Back Lane, or any number of others.

(* As an aside, while the Fairy Creek crisis has wound down significantly, for the reason explained below, the Wetʼsuwetʼen situation has just flared up again.)

So, as with most large protests, there are a lot of factors that led the current state of affairs at the Fairy Creek watershed. But the primary inciting concern is the ramping-up of old-growth logging, despite a recent report about its environmental perils. Very basically, protesters have set up blockades to stop all logging, while the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police, aka the Mounties) is enforcing an injunction to remove the blockades and allow logging to continue.

If you know anything about environmental activism, and the way policing works under capitalism, you can guess where this story is going. The injunction told the RCMP they should remove the protesters. It didn’t specify how. It left that up to the RCMP.

The RCMP acted with all the brutality you’d expect from a band of thugs hired by a corporation to crush anything standing in the way of its profit-making. Almost a thousand protesters have been arrested, and the arrests haven’t been pleasant—protesters have been beaten, dragged around, pepper sprayed, and more. Realizing how bad it looks for a heavily armed, paramilitary force to storm in and beat the shit out of unarmed protesters, the RCMP have also been arresting and harassing journalists, and destroying communications equipment (most notably an Internet satellite the protesters were using). Despite those efforts at a cover-up, there has been extensive documentation of unnecessary force, overreach, and straight-up illegal brutality, all while the RCMP lies about it and tries to cover it up.

The RCMP response got so bad that a number of media and journalism outlets went to the courts to do something about it… and they won, not that it mattered, because the RCMP continued right on with the violence the judge had just rebuked them for. Eventually, another court ruling put an end to the injunction, and the judge specifically pointed to the RCMP’s conduct as the reason why it had to end.

That the judge noticed the RCMP’s disproportionate brutality is part of a general trend of growing awareness, actually: people are starting to notice that environmental protesters get treated very differently from, say, anti-mask protesters. As that article notes, the peaceful, nonviolent environmental protesters at Fairy Creek were assaulted, beaten, pepper-sprayed, and had their property seized and destroyed by heavily armed, militarized police… while anti-vax agitators were allowed to blockade hospitals and harass and threaten doctors with barely a police response, if any, and white supremacist “protesters” were allowed to get right up in the Prime Minister’s face, and even throw rocks at him. It’s amazing that not even protecting the Prime Minister from hatemongers who routinely talk about how much they’d like to “execute” him for “treason” can motivate a police response as intense as protecting the profits of a logging company. Capitalism’s priorities, eh?

# This topic’s topic

So violence against environmental activists is a huge problem; global, pervasive, and systemic. And it’s getting worse.

We need to talk about it. That’s why I’d like this to be a thread about the violence environmental activists have faced while standing up to polluters and exploiters, including both extra-judicial violence, and sanctioned, legal violence by governments and police forces.

And of course, if anyone wants to argue for the other side, they’re welcome to as well. There is another side to all this, of course; there always is. The counter-argument is that the protesters are, quite simply, breaking the law. For example, in Fairy Creek: The companies that have acquired the rights to log in Fairy Creek acquired them only after going through an extensive and rigorous application process that included environmental assessments. And the Pacheedaht First Nation supports their right to log (depending on who you ask; it’s complicated), and wants the protesters to leave; after all, it’s their territory, and they have a right to be the stewards of its resources, and to get a cut of the profits of the logging. One could reasonably argue that while the excessive brutality and violence is unacceptable, the cops are in the right to do something about the protesters (they should probably just find a better way to do it, perhaps).

So again: This topic is for stories about environmental protests around the world, including but not limited to:

• the background story: what they’re protesting and why
• the response they’re facing, both by official, sanctioned authorities, by the companies involved, and by extra-judicial actors; and
• any opinions or hot takes about any of the above.

[Haibane]

Yes, this is a deeply worrying trend. While I don't have the article at my fingertips right now I think (not 100% sure, lots has happened since then) that about 2-3 months ago I linked a BBC report on this subject to the "Whats in the News" thread.

A number of environmental activists in the Amazon region have died and it appears mining and logging companies are hiring hit men to have them killed although of course denials are rife and with corruptible police in Brazil getting to the truth is almost impossible. I have this recollection that the family member of a murdered activist was also killed just because they were making noises about bringing a case against the mining company. I really need to spend an hour or so digging up the relevant article though some here may recall it being posted before.

But ... with mining and logging and quarrying companies ripping up the rain forest and then murdering those who speak out against it, I weep for our chances of slowing climate change.

[Saria]

BC RCMP Says It Deployed Snipers and Assault Teams Against Unarmed Indigenous Land Defenders Because It Was ‘More Practicable’

I mentioned in the opening post that two court rulings ended the RCMP activity at Fairy Creek: one ruling that the harassment and arrest of journalists was illegal, and one ending the injunction outright because it looked so bad for militarized police forces to be beating the crap out of unarmed indigenous land defenders. Welp, they apparently just moved (back) over to Wetʼsuwetʼen territory, and they’re right back at it again: arresting journalists, and assaulting unarmed indigenous land defenders with army gear.

As an aside, when I was looking for an article to link to update the story, I almost accidentally linked this article:

Canada police prepared to shoot Indigenous activists, documents show

That article, though, was from two years ago… the last time the RCMP moved on indigenous land defenders in Wetʼsuwetʼen… after leaked documents revealed the RCMP planned to use “lethal overwatch”, and told officers “use as much violence toward the gate as you want” to “sterilize” the site.



Environmental activist Carlos Cerros killed in Honduras

Carlos Cerros was an indigenous environmental activist, involved in the protest of a hydroelectric dam. He was murdered in front of his children in March (that’s 2021, so he’s not part of the 2020 tally in the report mentioned in the opening post).



Environment activist shot dead outside Nairobi home after death threats

Joannah Stutchbury was protesting the destruction of Kiambu forest. She was murdered in her driveway in July.



2 environmentalists murdered in 1 week in Guerrero, Oaxaca

Carlos Marqués Oyorzábal was protesting logging in Guerrero. In April, he was tortured, killed, and dismembered.

A day later, Jaime Jiménez Ruiz, known for his activism defending the Río Verde river, was murdered in Oaxaca.



Colombia’s 12-year-old eco-activist refuses to let death threats dim passion

Francisco Vera is an environmental activist whose focus is wide-ranging, but most famously for defending páramo biodiversity. He’s been targeted with death threats. He’s 12.



Incidentally, I stumbled on this 2019 article that finds, among other things, that “every year, more people are killed defending the environment than are soldiers from the United Kingdom and Australia on overseas deployments in war zones combined”.

Keep in mind that was from 2019, and every year since the record for number of killings has been broken.

[Haibane]

The problem is the places these activists are working in. Africa, South America, etc. Places with the shittiest police and most notorious corrupt government and business. Activists in Europe or N America or the Far East say their thing, make their case, stand their ground with protests and sometimes stuff gets done. Out in the Wild West of the third world they get murdered. The issue is really about those in government out there. Changing that is next to impossible.

[Chulanowa]

The problem is the places these activists are working in. Africa, South America, etc. Places with the shittiest police and most notorious corrupt government and business. Activists in Europe or N America or the Far East say their thing, make their case, stand their ground with protests and sometimes stuff gets done. Out in the Wild West of the third world they get murdered. The issue is really about those in government out there. Changing that is next to impossible.

In the 'cIvIlIzeD wEsT' we just, you know, throw lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit at activists after they win, nullifying the win and sending them to prison.

Or. You know. Send in the federal forces with carte blanche to do whatever to activists.

Let's also not forget that these corrupt governments and their [urlhttps://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-conducts-training-colombian-national-police-officers]brutish police forces[/url] are backed and largely created by those "bAsTiOnS oF DemoCrATic FrEeDoMs," which are also the places the benefiting companies operate out of (Chevron, Nestlé, Chaquita Fruit, ExxonMobil, Anglo American, West Fraser Timber Co, etc). Going "Well *those places* are just corrupt!" is really missing the big picture.

[Saria]

I’d planned to mention Donziger, but I guess I forgot!

Yes, saying the problem is “those places” is missing the point spectacularly. As Chulanowa suggests, step back and look at the bigger picture:

Activists protesting resource extraction projects in countries with ineffectual or corrupt governments are being targeted—sometimes murdered—by hired goons. Now… who do you think hired those goons? The government? Seems unlikely. Sure, the shitty government may be making it easier to murder your opponents and/or get away with it. But then… what really is the problem there?

Even if the government is so bad that murdering is easy… even if the government is complicit… the real problem is the resource extraction company. And I think you’ll find that, even (especially!) in those shitty, barely-functional, third-world countries, those resource extraction companies are almost always North American or European. And if not, they are always North American or European funded.

The other thing to consider is: if the government really is corrupt… where is the money corrupting them coming from? If they can be bribed to ignore the murder of an activist, or carry it out… who’s paying the bribe? If it’s big money to blame for the violence against land defenders… where do you think the “big money” is coming from? The poor, third-world country? Or the rich North American and European resource extraction companies and investors?

Just consider this: What we’re talking about here is environmental destruction. Why would a country be so willing to tear up its own natural resources? For money? Okay, sure… but unless the money is coming from outside, that doesn’t make sense. So even if the violence against environment activists is all due to the government… then the only way that would make any sense is if outside money is motivating the government. Right?

While I’m asking rhetorical questions to refocus thinking, let me be absolutely clear that there is nothing rhetorical about what I’m implying. So let me state it clearly: You know who’s responsible for the environmental activists dying in third-world “shithole countries”? North America and Europe.

Take one of the most famous cases of the last few years: Berta Cáceres. Cáceres was murdered in her home for her opposition to some hydroelectric dams. The very brief summary of what happened is that Cáceres called attention to the fact that the dams were being built in indigenous territory, but because they didn’t get the indigenous people’s consent, they were in violation of international law. Because of that, two of the three major partners—a Chinese company and the World Bank—pulled out, leaving the Honduras state power company to run the project alone. Cáceres was killed in retaliation.

Now, if you ignore the bigger picture, it’s easy to blame the problem on internal politics and corruption in Honduras. Cáceres had been targeted and harassed by the army, the judicial system, the media, and some of the most powerful and well-connected people in Honduras for many, many years. And the actual murder was planned and carried out by the Honduras state-owned power company, and a bunch of Honduran army people. So… it’s all a Honduras problem, right?

No. Pull back and look at the bigger picture. Why was the Honduran power company so desperate to eliminate opposition to the project. Because their foreign investors, from the Netherlands and Finland, told them to do it. (It’s mentioned in Cáceres’s Wiki, along with links to sources.) And the mercenaries who actually pulled the trigger? They were all US-trained.

So clearly this isn’t just the fault of Honduras, no matter how fucked up the country may be. But pull back even further.

Why is Honduras so fucked up? Why is it a banana republic? Fun fact, Honduras is the original banana republic, so named after a US fruit company (Chiquita bananas, if you were curious) overthrew the democratically-elected president and proceeded to absolutely plunder the country (and several neighbouring countries). To this day they continue their bloody reign of terror over the Honduran people; they’re no longer technically the government… but since they own the government, it’s a distinction without a difference.

The US has invaded Honduras so many times, I had to check to make sure I wasn’t missing any. They invaded in 1903, 1907, 1911, 1912, 1919, 1924, and 1925. They also engineered—or, at the very least, supported—multiple coups overthrowing democratically-elected leaders. They (via the CIA) funded and oversaw a number of right-wing death squads that terrorized the population. Currently, the right-wing president is in power after “winning” an election that was shady as hell—analyses of the results just don’t jibe with the census—and multiple international organizations, including the United Nations, have called out illegal and sometimes violent suppression of the vote and the subsequent protests… but, hey, the US likes the guy, so it’s all good, right?

You see, even if you want to point the finger at corruption or political weakness… if you take a step back and ask “what caused the corruption and political weakness?”, there they are: The “West”. The “developed countries”. The “first world”. Whatever you want to call them, it’s North America and Europe.

It’s North American and European companies, with their governments complicit, who are exploiting smaller, weaker nations… and only that, keeping them weak by actively undermining their people and their governments. It’s North American and European money that drives the resource extraction activities that locals protest… and ultimately, it’s that same money they end up being killed over. Pointing the finger at the local governments is misguided. I’m not saying they’re innocent. But everything—including the weakness and corruption of the local government—ultimately comes back to the North American and European companies who want to profit off the exploitation of the locals’ land and resources.

(Also, as Chulanowa implies, suggesting this is just a problem with third world countries is not just disingenuous, it’s completely out of touch with reality. There may not be death squads straight-up murdering environmental activists in developed countries… but they sure come close to it.)

[Haibane]

In the 'cIvIlIzeD wEsT' we just, you know, throw lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit at activists after they win, nullifying the win and sending them to prison.

Or. You know. Send in the federal forces with carte blanche to do whatever to activists.

Let's also not forget that these corrupt governments and their [urlhttps://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-conducts-training-colombian-national-police-officers]brutish police forces[/url] are backed and largely created by those "bAsTiOnS oF DemoCrATic FrEeDoMs," which are also the places the benefiting companies operate out of (Chevron, Nestlé, Chaquita Fruit, ExxonMobil, Anglo American, West Fraser Timber Co, etc). Going "Well *those places* are just corrupt!" is really missing the big picture.

In some western cases, activists succeed. That was what I was saying. In Third World countries they very rarely do.

There's a very clear correlation here and if you would accept that I'd be grateful that I'm not wasting my time with my comments. If you cannot see an overall correlation that western governments are generally liberal and empathic while third world governments tend not to be then we are talking from different books, not even different pages. Someone is missing a bigger picture than you can see. Its not me.

There's no need to go all sarcasm on me with TeXt SPeEK or whatever you are doing - I don't think such behaviour helps your case at all.

[Chulanowa]

The problem is that "the west" is a completely arbitrary term. Who is and isn't "the west" and what qualifies or disqualifies them changes every time the term is used. It's intentionally ambiguous, and that makes it meaningless. "Third World" isn't any better either, for the same reasons.

You can't draw meaningful conclusions from comparing meaningless groupings. No matter how comforting it feels to do so.

The fact is, violence against environmental activists is a global problem. It happens in nations you consider "westernx" it happens in nations you consider "third world," and very often it involves the former using the latter as proxies.

And yes Haibane,  you and I are working out of different books. Hi there, I'm a leftist, how are you doing today? 

[Haibane]

It happens less in the west than it does in the third world. We all know where I mean by "west" and "third world" - the classic long term accepted meaning of the terms. Its not a complex issue. This is why the point I was making went right over Iniquitous' head and she raised straw-man points in response. Yes, I'm fully aware that there are cases where activists have suffered in the west but they suffer a whole shit-ton less and in the third world they are at more risk. Much more. I can't recall a single case of an activist fighting against deforestation being flat out murdered in any western country. Yet in the last few years a half-dozen or so have suffered that fate in the third world. And yes, we all know where the "third world". To suggest these are meaningless terms is... I don't know. Pointless. Wrong.

On that note, I'm out.

[Oniya]

Calling people out by name is not an appropriate debate tactic, especially when that person isn't even taking part in the given discussion.  If you have issues with an individual, proper protocol is to either speak to them privately and politely, or to report the post to Staff using the Report to Moderator button.

[Saria]

Still happening, of course. The article gives a very brief glimpse of the scale of the terror campaign, pointing out that entire families are being wiped out, often years after they’ve stopped their activism. The last paragraph is particularly eyebrow-raising.

This particular murder was about illegal logging, but the underlying cause is the ongoing drug war. The article explains that it’s the drug lords who are doing the logging so they can grow their shit. The last paragraph makes it sound like this is Obrador’s fault, but that’s just poor choice of wording, because it was Calderon who actually started the problem; Obrador’s government is just trying to fix the mess.



Looks like Colombia is going to hold on to the title of the deadliest country in the world for environmental activists; 33 were killed in just the first two months, including a 14 year-old boy. 19 events are labelled as “massacres” because they have three or more victims.



Colombia is the deadliest country in the world for environmental activists, but Honduras remains the most dangerous. A leader of the Lenca indigenous people was killed in January; the Lenca is the same group that Berta Cáceres—mentioned above—belonged to. Not sure if Hernández was involved in the same dam fight that Cáceres was murdered over… but the other guy mentioned as murdered in the article—Cerros Escalante—was.

Honduras is called the most dangerous country in the world, despite the death toll in Colombia being considerably higher, because the government likes to use “legal” tactics to crush environmental activists without necessarily killing them. A big story that unfolded recently involved six activists who were arrested for protesting an open-pit iron oxide mine and held for two-and-a-half years in prison, then finally convicted last month, facing 8–14 year prison terms. (If you’re googling the story, you’ll sometimes see it mentioning 8 activists, not 6. That’s because 2 were released a while back.) The whole thing was called a mockery of justice by pretty much the entire world.

Well, at least that story had a somewhat happy ending. Just days after the bullshit convictions, the Honduran Supreme Court ruled that the entire process had been completely illegal, right from the start; not only should they never have been detained at all, they shouldn’t even have been charged.

Still, they lost over two years of their lives, and there remains the very high likelihood of retaliatory murders. So… not really much of a happy ending after all.