For over a decade, Latin America has remained the most dangerous region to fight against extractive projects and defend the environment and land. The highest proportion of cases involving violence against environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs) documented in 2024 (82%) has taken place in Latin America, according to the latest report of Global Witness. The most affected countries in the region are Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Brazil, and Honduras. A plethora of factors drives the perpetration of violence against EHRDs, which is rooted in (among others) persistently high levels of impunity, institutional corruption, rampant land inequality since colonial times, and the expansion of extractive economic models. The lack of effective state protection, particularly for Indigenous peoples, and weak justice systems contribute to the perpetuation of violence, ultimately increasing the level of risks to EHRDs. Moreover, certain groups of EHRDs have been disproportionately targeted, particularly Indigenous peoples whose recognition and protection are not guaranteed. In fact, approximately one-third of EHRDs killed or disappeared in 2024 were Indigenous or Afro-descendant. This cycle of violence reflects weaknesses in upholding the rule of law and the overall shrinking of civic space protection.
Who is most at risk?
While there is a widespread pattern of violence against EHRDs, some population groups suffer disproportionately. For example, women EHRDs are severely targeted, with a total of 10% in 2024 being killed. Additionally, Indigenous and Afro-descendant EHRDs, as well as rural community leaders, face greater risks. The vulnerable conditions under which these groups defend the environment are exacerbated by structural factors such as racial discrimination and the levels of systemic marginalization, poverty, inequality, and social exclusion that have historically affected them.
Indigenous Peoples and communities play a fundamental and historic role as guardians of the territory. Their relationship with their territories and resources is spiritual and cultural, forming part of their identity and traditional way of life. Furthermore, as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has indicated, structural and institutionalized racial discrimination against Indigenous Peoples impacts their ability to access justice on equal terms and creates a situation of widespread impunity for crimes committed against them. The permeation of toxic narratives by State and non-State actors, which include labels like anti-development or more severe accusations, such as being criminal gang members or threats to national security, further perpetuates the systemic violence against Indigenous EHRDs.
Similarly, in the Inter-American system, further development is required to set out specific standards for the rights of Afro-descendant populations and to outline the parameters of their protection on an international scale.
Legal Protection Framework in the Americas: From Recognition to Enforcement
Despite widespread violence, Latin America has one of the most robust and developed frameworks for protecting EHRDs. Not only is it the region that has formally recognized EHRDs in a legal instrument, but the Inter-American Human Rights System (IAHRS) has also repeatedly emphasized the importance of protecting the lives, personal integrity, and work of EHRDs, as well as the State obligations that arise in this context.
The Escazú Agreement: A Milestone for the Region
The first international instrument to expressly provide for the protection of EHRDs is the Escazú Agreement, which reaffirmed the State Parties’ commitments to the rights of access to information, participation, and justice in environmental matters in Latin America and the Caribbean. In this landmark agreement, the important role of EHRDs’ contributions in strengthening democracy, access rights, and sustainable development is firmly recognized. Significantly, Article 9 of the Escazú Agreement explicitly places three sets of obligations on State Parties: (i) to secure, for EHRDs, a safe and enabling environment enabling them to conduct their activities free from threats, (ii) to recognize and promote the rights of EHRDs, taking into account (among others) international human rights law, and (iii) to prevent, investigate and punish attacks or threats that EHRDs may face. However, delays and inconsistencies have been experienced regarding the ratification and implementation of the agreement. Out of 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, 25 have signed the agreement, and only 12 originally ratified it, increasing to 15 since April 2021, when the agreement entered into force. Moreover, a critical condition for the successful implementation of the Escazu agreement (and other international treaties) is the existence of an independent, impartial, and effective justice system, which in many Latin American countries, such as Guatemala, is not guaranteed.
The Role of the Inter-American Court
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) has developed one of the most comprehensive and robust frameworks for the protection of EHRDs, which is encompassed within the broader context of the development of the right to defend human rights. The IACtHR has established a line of jurisprudence that holds that there is a right to defend human rights, linking it to the strengthening of democracy and the rule of law. It has also pointed out that they play a fundamental role in society, since they contribute in an essential way to the observance of human rights and are actors that complement the role of States. Therefore, it has been concluded that the defense of human rights can only be exercised when the persons who carry it out are not themselves victims of threats, physical, psychological, or moral aggression, or harassment.
In 2009, in the Kawas-Férnandez v. Honduras case, the Court established that the defense of human rights also encompassed activities such as reporting, monitoring, and education on economic, social, and cultural rights, including environmental protection, and recognized the importance of the work of EHRDs. That same year, in the Luna López v. Honduras case, the Court also made it clear that recognition of the work done to defend the environment is particularly relevant in the countries of the region, where there has been a growing number of reports of threats, acts of violence, and murders of EHRDs because of their work.
Moreover, the Court established that States have an obligation to adopt all necessary and reasonable measures to guarantee the right to life of persons who are in a situation of particular vulnerability, especially as a result of their work. To this end, it applied an “action test,” stating that the State should act when it has “knowledge of a situation of real and immediate risk to a specific individual or group of individuals and reasonable possibilities of preventing or avoiding that risk”. In other cases, the Court also recognized that human rights violations had occurred as a result of environmental advocacy work.
Years later, in La Oroya v. Peru, the IACtHR held that the category of human rights defenders “obviously includes environmental defenders” and affirmed that, given the importance of environmental work, the free and full exercise of their rights requires States to create the legal and factual conditions necessary for EHRDs to carry out their work safely. The Court stressed that this is especially significant in the Americas because human rights and environmental protection are interdependent and indivisible, and because of the particular difficulties associated with defending environmental rights in the region.
In 2025, in its Advisory Opinion on the climate emergency and human rights, the IACtHR strengthened this jurisprudence and expanded its protections to climate defenders. It anchored the concept of “environmental democracy” within States’ obligations in the context of the climate emergency and underscored the intrinsic link between the climate emergency, the rule of law, and human rights. The Court emphasized the essential role of measures aimed at reinforcing democratic institutions as the framework for safeguarding all human rights from climate-related threats, noting that EHRDs “perform a task that is fundamental for strengthening democracy and the rule of law.”
The IACtHR further observed that the urgency, severity, and complexity of the climate crisis heighten the importance of EHRDs’ work. It concluded that States have reinforced obligations toward EHRDs working against climate change, including the duties to recognize, promote, and guarantee their rights; provide the means necessary to carry out their functions; and ensure a safe and enabling environment in which they can conduct their work free from threats, restrictions, or risks to their lives. States must also investigate and punish any attack, threat, or act of intimidation against EHRDs, all of this in line with the Escazú Agreement obligations.
Importantly, the IACtHR explicitly recognized the regional context of criminalization and violence against EHRDs. It highlighted documented patterns of attacks, threats, and enforced disappearances aimed at obstructing or intimidating their work and recalled that these actions violate judicial guarantees and judicial protection, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and the right to defend human rights.
The Advisory Opinion also acknowledged that certain EHRDs face differentiated and compounded risks due to intersecting forms of discrimination. The Court identified Indigenous peoples, Afro-descendant communities, rural populations, and women as particularly vulnerable to distinct forms of violence. Applying a gender perspective, it held that women EHRDs are often subjected to stereotyping and other tactics intended to delegitimize their work. It further noted that Indigenous women who act as EHRDs face additional obstacles to their safety and well-being, including sexual violence, discrimination, and harassment directed at their children and families, as well as heightened vulnerability overall.
The Role of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
In multiple instances, the IACHR has also expressed concern about the human rights situation in which EHRDs operate. Recently, in its third report on the situation of human rights defenders in the Americas, the IACHR underscored that EHRDs are “at the top of the list of victims of murders and aggressions in the region”. The report also highlighted the significant role of women in environmental defense, noting that they often lead such initiatives. At the same time, the IACHR emphasized that women EHRDs face particular risks, due to the use of gender-based violence as a strategy to silence them and discourage their work (e.g., in the form of harassment, death threats, and violence). The IACHR has issued recommendations to States aimed at protecting the defense of human rights, recognizing this as essential to strengthening democracy and the rule of law. These recommendations have included adopting a comprehensive public policy and reviewing current legal frameworks applicable to EHRDs.
Beyond monitoring trends, structural challenges, and good practices, the IACHR also uses additional tools to safeguard EHRDs and their contributions. The system of precautionary measures issued by the IACHR constitutes one of the Inter-American system’s protection mechanisms employed for EHRDs. Over the years, a series of orders granting precautionary measures have been issued by the IACHR to protect EHRDs in the face of persistent violence, particularly in Guatemala and Honduras. However, the implementation of such measures has at times been the subject of international scrutiny. For example, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions has expressed deep concern about the failure of Honduran authorities to effectively apply IACHR’s precautionary measures. A notable illustration is the Guapinol case, which concerned the criminalization and persecution of eight Honduran EHRDs who peacefully protested against a mining project threatening the Guapinol river. Two years after the IACHR issued precautionary measures on behalf of the Guapinol defenders, the Honduran State continues to keep the beneficiaries in a hostile environment where they face ongoing risks.
Moreover, the IACHR has held hearings to gather information on the human rights situation of EHRDs in specific countries or in the region as a whole. For instance, during its 182nd period of sessions in 2021, the IACHR held a public hearing on the “Situation of the human rights of women environmental defenders in Guatemala”, which provided a space for women EHRDs to report experiences of gender-based violence linked to their work and to highlight obstacles to accessing justice.
The IACHR’s efforts are most effective when they foster a connection between regional standards and national protection mechanisms, ultimately contributing to the strengthening of the latter. Through its granting of precautionary measures, holding of public hearings, and consistent monitoring of relevant trends, the IACHR contributes to increased institutional capacity building, which enables the enforcement of regional human rights standards at the local level.
Looking Ahead: Challenges and Opportunities
Despite significant progress made in establishing regional standards for the protection of EHRDs in Latin America, a persistent and dangerous gap remains between law and practice in the region. Inadequate, under-resourced, and often corrupt legal systems continue to fail EHRDs. At the same time, pervasive toxic narratives result in the targeting of EHRDs and their communities, often in the form of deliberate smear campaigns and strategic litigation (SLAPP suits), undermining their work. Real protection requires more than the articulation of rights. Moving forward, real progress demands political will, the dismantling of corruption networks, and building independent judicial institutions capable of delivering strong accountability mechanisms. Opportunities for strengthened protection do exist: fully implementing the Escazú Agreement; expanding strategic litigation before the IACtHR and IACHR; and investing in robust national protection systems with adequate resources to effectively implement the jurisprudence of the IACtHR and the recommendations of the IACHR. The consistently high number of attacks, killings, and criminalization cases across the region underscores the urgency of turning regional standards into concrete safeguards for EHRDs in Latin America. Our next piece in this series will focus on the disproportionate targeting of Indigenous peoples in their defense of land, territory, and the environment, and the responsibility of non-State actors in relation to such harms.
Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center works alongside EHRDs by providing support for the litigation of emblematic cases in the region to advance the protection of their rights. To learn more about this work, visit the Civic Space Case Tracker, which maps leading cases litigated by local organizations and lawyers in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.