Tonico Benites
Dr. Tonico Benites is an indigenous rights leader, anthropologist and human rights defender from Brazil. He is the leading spokesperson of Aty Guasu, an organisation representing Guarani-Kaiowá indigenous leaders and has developed extensive research and mapping on the violence perpetrated against indigenous communities in Brazil. As a direct result of his work to expose the patterns of attack against these communities, Benites has received death threats and in 2014 he was included in the Special Secretary of Human Rights of the President of Brazil's protection programme for promoters of human rights. He is a Masters and PhD graduate of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and is continuing his academic career with a Post-Doctorate in Social Anthropology.
The challenges and threats faced by human rights defenders in Brazil remain very high, particularly for those working on issues of land, environment, indigenous peoples, LGBTi rights, corruption and impunity. Many HRDs have experienced death threats, physical attacks, arbitrary arrests and lawsuits. The high number of killings is of particular concern and takes place against a background of widespread impunity.
