“I cannot freely walk on my territory or swim in the sacred river and I am separated from my children because of the threats. I cannot live in peace, I am always thinking about being killed or kidnapped. But I refuse to go into exile. I am a human rights fighter and I will not give up this fight.”
– Berta Cáceres
In recent years, the silencing, disappearance and assassination of environmental and indigenous defenders has become tragically common. On average, three people are killed every week defending their land, forests and waterways. In countries where human rights abuses are rife, indigenous and local communities face enormous risks when they stand up to the powerful interests behind proposed infrastructure and extractive projects.
River protectors have increasingly come under threat. International Rivers has documented over 100 environmental defenders who were murdered due to their involvement in dam-resistance campaigns over the past two decades; many more have likely not been reported. The dam industry has been silent on its devastating record of complicity with these murders.
These attacks are particularly egregious in Central and South America, but also severely impact people’s rights to organize and speak out in many parts of Asia and Africa. We must remove impunity for the corporations and governments that enable such attacks.
Our Work to Protect River Defenders
We support environmental defenders in their struggles. We document and monitor projects where rights violations are occurring, and identify strategies for how to strengthen national, regional and international human rights protections. We support communities seeking reparations through legal recourse and financiers’ and companies’ complaints and grievance mechanisms. And we support access to resources, networks and security strategies for defenders at risk.
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Murdered for Their Rivers: A Roster of Fallen Dam Fighters
At International Rivers, we’re aware of over a hundred activists who have paid the ultimate price for defending their rivers… [read more]
Latest News
- Defenders of Brazilian Amazon travel to Europe to Denounce Threats and Rights Violations by Industrial and Illegal Mining
A delegation comprised of Brazilian Indigenous and community leaders from the Amazonian Xingu and Tapajós regions is traveling to Belgium and Switzerland to meet with European Union officials and denounce… - International Rivers Condemns and Denounces the Brutal Murder of an Environmental Defender’s Family in Amazon region, Brazil
International Rivers, Brazilian Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), Pará’s Society in Defense of Human Rights (SDDH) and several other national and international organizations condemns and internationally denounces the brutal murder environmental… - An urgent call to protect Brazil’s human rights and environmental defenders
By: Brent Millikan, Latin America Program Director In response to the brutal assassination of Dilma Ferreira Silva, a leader of Brazil’s Movement of Dam-Affected Peoples (MAB) in the area impacted by the… - River Defenders Gather Forces in Georgia
By: Kate Horner, former Executive Director & Igor Vejnovic This article originally appeared on Open Democracy. This week, activists from across the world are meeting in Tbilisi to share their experiences of…