In a report to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances raised concerns on Wednesday about the escalating global trend of enforced disappearances targeting land and environmental defenders, particularly in regions with weak rule of law and prevailing impunity.
In their report, UN experts found that land defenders and environmental activists were subjected to enforced disappearances due to their advocacy and opposition to powerful economic interests. Such disappearances frequently occurred in countries experiencing climate emergencies and characterized by violence, repression, and systemic marginalization. The experts further observed that state authorities and media outlets often discredited environmental activists by labeling them as “eco-terrorists” and “anti-development” to protect corporate interests and justify their surveillance.
Furthermore, the group of experts noted that enforced disappearances involved collusion between state officials, corporations, and criminal groups in order to protect profits from extractive industries and development projects, which frequently involved land grabs and risks of toxic spills in surrounding environments. They also emphasized that the situation is exacerbated by the lack of adequate legal frameworks in affected countries, as well as the broader deterioration of state authority caused by corruption, colonial and patriarchal legacies, and inefficient legal systems that failed to regularize land ownership.
Additionally, the UN group emphasized that business enterprises and financial institutions bear a comparable responsibility to state actors in preventing enforced disappearances. It noted that non-state actors failed to comply with their human rights due diligence obligations when exploiting lands and natural resources in developing countries. In addition, multinational corporations often declined to cooperate with investigations into the disappearance of environmental activists in countries where they operate.
In conclusion, the UN experts issued recommendations to both state and non-state actors to address enforced disappearances. They urged states to enact appropriate legislation and comply with their obligations under the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, implement policies that secure community land ownership rights, and uphold the principle of free and informed consent before any extraction or development project affecting local communities. For non-state actors, the UN group recommended that corporations and financial institutions adopt policies that align with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, conduct thorough due diligence, and ensure their operations do not contribute to enforced disappearances.
In recent years, violence against climate activists and land defenders has intensified globally, including in the European Union (EU) and the Americas. A report by a human rights organization indicated that Colombia recorded the highest number of environmental defender killings worldwide in 2022. Similarly, the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) reported that at least 126 human rights defenders were murdered in 2023, most of whom were land and environmental defenders and indigenous community leaders. Additionally, a Human Rights Watch report revealed that several European governments implemented repressive measures against climate activist groups to suppress environmental protests across the EU.
