They Spoke Truth to Power and Were Murdered in Cold Blood
Report by Michel Forst, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders
The present report highlights the situation of environmental human rights defenders (EHDRs). In this report, I want to raise alarm about the increasing and intensifying violence against them. I am extremely appalled by the number of killings and attacks and the lack of response from States in front of such situation. I want to make recommendations to various stakeholders in order to reverse this worrying trend and to empower and protect those defenders, for the sake of our common environment and sustainable development.
This report is dedicated to the heroic activists, who have braved the dangers facing them and defended the rights of their communities to a safe and healthy environment, to a future with dignity and respect, and to their traditional land and livelihood. They spoke truth to power, and were murdered in cold blood.
