Case History: Raimundo dos Santos Rodrigues
On 25 August 2015, unidentified individuals attacked and killed human rights defender Mr Raimundo dos Santos Rodrigues, a prominent environmental rights defender in Brazil.
The individuals attacked Raimundo dos Santos Rodrigues while returning to his home in Bom Jardim, in the state of Maranhão. Raimundo dos Santos Rodrigues was shot and also attacked with a machete and died as a result of the injuries he sustained.
Raimundo dos Santos Rodrigues was a prominent environmental rights defender in Brazil. He was a member of the Conselho Consultivo da Reserva Biológica do Gurupi – ReBio (Advisory Council of the Biological Reserve of Gurupi) and was well-known for his work to promote the preservation of the Amazon rainforest and the rights of the members of the Brejinho das Onças Community (Comunidade Brejinho das Onças), who have suffered harassment and intimidation by landowners of the region and logging industries who have been trying to force the local communities out of their own lands. Raimundo dos Santos Rodrigues was one of the advisors for the Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade – ICMBio (Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation), which works denouncing environmental crimes and defending the Amazon biodiversity. The human rights defender had been denouncing environmental crimes committed by landowners and logging industries, such as the illegal logging in Pindaré Valley (Vale do Pindaré) in Maranhão, for which he received numerous threats. On 25 August 2015, unidentified individuals attacked and killed human rights defender Mr Raimundo dos Santos Rodrigues. The individuals attacked him while he was returning to his home in Bom Jardim, in the state of Maranhão. He was shot and also attacked with a machete and died as a result of the injuries he sustained.
On 25 August 2015, unidentified individuals attacked and killed human rights defender Mr Raimundo dos Santos Rodrigues, a prominent environmental rights defender in Brazil.
The individuals attacked Raimundo dos Santos Rodrigues while returning to his home in Bom Jardim, in the state of Maranhão. Raimundo dos Santos Rodrigues was shot and also attacked with a machete and died as a result of the injuries he sustained.
The killing of Raimundo dos Santos Rodrigues follows a series of death threats which the human rights defender reported to the National Agrarian Ombudsman (Ouvidoria Nacional Agrária) in November 2014. However, no action was taken.
Other members of the Advisory Council of the Biological Reserve of Gurupi have been receiving threats from loggers for over a year. The human rights defenders' names are allegedly on a list of members of the Advisory Council who are targets for killing, which also included Raimundo dos Santos Rodrigues.
The killing of Raimundo dos Santos Rodrigues occurred in a context whereby environmental and indigenous rights defenders in Brazil are increasingly at risk as a result of their work. In the state of Maranhão, following the death of indigenous leader Eusebio Ka'apor on 26 April 2015, members of the Ka'apor community who are fighting to preserve the Amazon rainforest in the region, have been victims of ongoing persecution and threats.