With many social justice protests halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, human rights defenders played a pivotal role in the re-mobilization of these movements and even the creation of new ones in 2020. Despite the vital efforts they made to fill the gaps left by corrupt and undemocratic systems in the face of unprecedented global challenges, many of these human rights defenders were met with atrocious acts of violence and suppression. At least 331 human rights defenders across 25 countries around the world were murdered in 2020, with many more beaten, detained, harassed, and criminalized as a result of their work. Though their violent suppression has been an issue historically, 2020 saw a higher number of human rights defenders murdered in fewer countries than the previous year.
Of the defenders killed in 2020, 69% were working to protect environmental, land, and indigenous peoples’ rights. Latin America accounted for more than three-quarters of the global total; it is often characterized as the most dangerous place in the world for rights activists. Colombia alone was responsible for over 53% of the total number of human rights defenders murdered worldwide. The presence of warring armed groups and the failure of the Colombian government to implement protection measures outlined in a 2016 peace agreement have placed defenders in this country at particularly high risk. In Peru, all of those killed were working to defend land or indigenous rights. 75% were indigenous themselves. Globally, indigenous activists comprised almost one-third of the total number of human rights defenders killed, though indigenous peoples make up approximately 6% of the population.
Many of the human rights defenders have been murdered for protesting corporate and state actors controlling and exploiting land and natural resources. Corporations have long sought to further their own economic and political interests through the appropriation of the commons and ecological space held by vulnerable populations. Due to the power that these corporations hold in this increasingly modern and globalized world and the impunity surrounding the issue of these murders, these acts towards human rights defenders have served as tools of subjugation and appropriation on the part of these corporations.
Mama Fikile Ntshangase was a human rights defender and leading member of the Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organization in South Africa. After having received death threats for over a year, Mama Fikile was shot dead by multiple gunmen in front of her home in October 2020 after refusing to withdraw a legal challenge against the Tendele Coal Ltd mining company in exchange for a bribe. She was 65 years old and had been opposing the extension of an opencast mining operation by the company that would involve moving approximately 200 families from their ancestral lands. In response to the bribe, Mama Fikile stated “I refused to sign. I cannot sell out my people. And if need be, I will die for my people.” By the end of the year, still no arrests had been made in response to her blatant murder. Mama Fikile’s story is not the exception; it is closer to the rule.
United Nations experts have concluded that impunity is the key driver behind these killings. Failure on the part of responsible authorities within states to prevent the murders and prosecute the perpetrators creates a state of laxity that allows for their continuation. A United Nations special rapporteur on the issue has recommended that states enforce the rule of law, properly resource protection mechanisms, and emphasize the valuable societal contributions of human rights defenders to build more positive political and public perceptions of their work. There have also been calls for the creation of binding obligations on businesses to take action against human rights violations, particularly for those companies operating in or sourcing materials from areas where rights defenders are at high risk. A report by Frontline Defenders recommends the integration of environmental, land, and indigenous peoples defenders into the climate mitigation strategies of nations at COP26 in November of 2021, as it has become increasingly apparent that the protection of the environment and human rights cannot be achieved without one another.
It is unclear to what extent these suggestions will actually be implemented, or whether they will even be effective. Some have also raised concern that highlighting the contributions of defenders in COP26 strategies could lead to even greater backlash against them. 2020 has shown the violent suppression of rights defenders to be as entrenched an issue as ever. Recommendations from both the United Nations and rights groups plainly show that it is not the solutions that are lacking, but the will to implement them by state and business interests.
