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 the invasions in their territories by mining companies such as the Canada’s Belo Sun and by illegal gold miners, who are driving the genocide of…
Read MoreInternational 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 defenders family in the Xingu region, Brazil. Last Sunday, the bodies of José Gomes (also known as Zé do Lago), his wife Márcia Nunes and…
Read MoreAn 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 notorious Tucuruí hydroelectric dam, a joint statement drafted by International Rivers and AIDA, and co-signed by over 100 human rights and environmental organizations from 25 countries,…
Read MoreRiver 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 resisting hydropower projects and the money that supports them. Free-flowing rivers are often the unsung heroes of the natural world. They support immense biodiversity, as…
Read MoreA River of Impunity: The Situation for Environmental Defenders Opposing Hydropower Projects
By: Maureen Harris, Programs Director “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…
Read MoreThe Mortal Danger of Opposing a Dam
By: Sarah Bardeen, former Communications Director In Sudan last week, dozens of peaceful protesters were injured when Sudanese police used force to break up a protest against the Kajbar and Dal dams. For some, it was deja vu – a painful echo of 2006-07, when Sudanese security forces took the lives of at least seven people who…
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