Brazil is one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be an environmental activist, and no one’s doing anything about it.
Over the past decade 300 Brazilian environmental activists have been assassinated, but just five percent of those cases — 14 in total — have ended up in the courtroom.
A report from Human Rights Watch found that the perpetrators are largely members of illegal “logging mafias” in the Amazon basin — and they act with near-total impunity.
Indeed, over the past 25 years, more than 1,500 environmental activists in Brazil have been killed.
Victims include community and indigenous activists, advocacy-group employees, and government workers with agencies such as FUNAI, the federal organization that enacts Brazilian policies for indigenous issues, including land use.
Illegal logging has worsened this year under the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, which has weakened environmental enforcement mechanisms.
However, deforestation in Brazil has increased every year since 2012, and despite the country’s commitment to the Paris Climate Accord, no end appears in sight.
Source: El Pais (Spain)