Case History: Nilce de Souza Magalhães

On 21 June 2016, human rights defender Ms Nilce de Souza Magalhães' body was found by the dam of Usina Hidrelétrica (UHE) in Jirau, Porto Velho. Previously, on 15 January 2016, Edione Pessoa da Silva was detained and confessed to her murder, but he escaped from prison shortly after. The human rights defender initially went missing on 7 January 2016.

Nilce "Nicinha" de Souza Magalhães was one of the leaders of the Movement of People Affected by Dams (Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens - MAB), a social movement founded in the 1970s that sought to advocate for the rights of people affected by the construction of dams. Nilce de Souza Magalhães was active in denouncing human rights violations perpetrated by the consortium Sustainable Energy of Brazil (Energia Sustentável do Brasil - ESBR) in the construction of the Usina Hidrelétrica (UHE) in Jirau, Porto Velho.

On 21 June 2016, the body of Nilce de Souza Magalhães was found by the UHE dam by the project's workers. Her hands and feet were tied with ropes attached to heavy rocks that kept the body under water for several months. On 15 January 2016, Edione Pessoa da Silva confessed to her murder after the police was tipped off through an anonymous call, but two months ago he escaped from the "Edvan Mariano Rosendo" state penitentiary. Edione Pessoa da Silva alleged that his motive was to silence "Nicinha" who had denounced him as a thief; however several MAB activists called for a full investigation as they believe the murder of the human rights defender was connected to her activism. Nilce de Souza Magalhães initially went missing on 7 January 2016 from her home in Velha Mutúm Paraná.

The UHE project forcefully displaced Nilce and her community to a site with no electricity or drinking water, in addition to compromising their subsistence as fishermen. The human rights defender was vocal about the grave impacts of the UHE project on fishermen in the Madeira river. In addition to participating in demonstrations and testifying at public hearings, Nilce submitted several complaints that initiated civil and criminal proceedings against UHE. Two ongoing civil inquiries are being conducted by the State and Federal Public Prosecutors' Office into the consortium's failure to adhere to the Program for Support of Fishing Activity, which required the company to compensate fishermen who were displaced as a direct consequence of the construction of the dam, and a criminal inquiry is looking into ESBR's manipulation of monitoring data in order to obscure the damaging impact of the dam on fishermen's livelihoods.

Nilce de Souza Magalhães is one of 27 human rights defenders murdered in Brazil in 2016 to date. Most recently, on 14 June 2016, Guarani-Kaiowá leader and human rights defender Clodieldo de Souza was shot dead during a raid conducted by paramilitary forces in the indigenous settlement Tey Jussu, in the region of Caarapó, Mato Grosso do Sul. At least 27 human rights defenders have been killed in 2016, placing Brazil at the top of the list of killings of defenders reported to Front Line Defenders this year, with indigenous, environmental and land rights defenders being the most targeted. Brazil was already declared the most deadly country for environmental human rights defenders in 2015 by Global Witness, which reported on 50 deaths.

Front Line Defenders urges Brazil to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation to identify and punish the material and intellectual culprits of the murder of Nilce de Souza Magalhães. Front Line Defenders also expresses deep concern at the recurrent reports on attacks against human rights defenders that are part of the National Protection Programme and the weakening of the programme itself.

Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in Brazil to:

1. Conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the homicide of Nilce de Souza Magalhães, ensuring that both material and intellectual culprits are brought to justice;

2. Take all necessary precautions to ensure the security and integrity of Nilce de Souza Magalhães' immediate family;

3. Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Brazil are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions.