On the night of March 2, 2016, Honduran environmental activist Berta Cáceres was murdered at her home. The environmental leader had launched a campaign against a controversial hydroelectric project launched in her locality, and her fight had earned her the prestigious Goldman Prize, also known as “the green Nobel”. The media around the world reported her death, which also happened on the eve of the celebration of International Women’s Day.
That of Berta Cáceres was the most mediatic, but unfortunately the murders of environmental activists are a constant on our planet, and in most cases the guilty of these crimes remain unpunished. And, according to different human rights NGOs, there are too many economic and political interests at stake. Berta Cáceres already said: “It is easy for one to be killed in defense of the environment.”
According to the latest available report, prepared by the NGO Global Witness , 185 environmental activists were murdered in 2015. In addition, Honduras is in the lead and holds the dubious honor of being the most dangerous country in the world for environmental defenders. And it does not seem that the global commotion that the assassination of Berta Cáceres caused has been of much use: as far as it is known (since many of these crimes take place in remote places and are silenced), seven other Honduran activists have been murdered since then.
The Honduran government has just passed a law that allows protesters to be tried as terrorists, according to Global Witness. “As the first anniversary of the murder of Berta Cáceres is being commemorated, the situation is increasingly serious for those who work alongside her. The people who defend their lands are being killed, those responsible are not punished and now the authorities are calling the activists terrorists “, explains Ben Leather, a member of this NGO.
Be a woman and defend your land and your people
The year 2017 has already claimed its first victims: Isidro Baldenegro (Mexico), Laura Vásquez (Guatemala) and Emilsen Manyoma (Colombia), all environmental leaders , were assassinated on January 15, 16 and 17 respectively.
Among the dead there are many women, and the associations that defend human rights warn that this is not a trivial question. The Mesoamerican Initiative of Women Human Rights Defenders denounced in its last report that only between 2012 and 2014 there had been 39 murders and 31 attempts to end the lives of women activists in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua.
“These are not just simple attacks on someone who works for rights , they have a clear gender character. We face a reality in which we, in addition to running the same risks that male defenders face, we run specific risks, of our own. to be women, “explained Alda Facio, an international legal expert on gender issues and women’s rights, on one occasion. Well, they, the activists, are daughters, wives and mothers who are challenging their traditional roles to defend their lands and their people. And, persecution and intimidation are joined by other threats such as sexual violence.
A few days ago, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights , denounced in an opinion article that the threats against environmental activists are today more intense than ever and appealed to the G-20 countries so that, when planning new infrastructures, they respect international law and open consultation processes that have the opinion and participation of the local communities that will be affected by said projects.
Today, one year after the murder of Berta Cáceres , we want to add our voice so that her death and that of so many people who fight for the well-being of our planet and our peoples are not forgotten.
