Around the world, protests by environmental organizations are subject to increasing repression from which come greater dangers to the safety and freedom of protesters. That is the claim of a new report from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom. The study, the first to examine global statistics on this form of protest, shows worrying trends: over the past 12 years, the authors explain, more than 2,000 activists have been killed while laws against protest have been introduced in many nations.
A disturbing phenomenon even in democratic countries
The report documented numerous murders and disappearances of activists in various countries, with Brazil, the Philippines, India and Peru emerging as the nations most affected by the phenomenon. The intensification of climate and ecological protests, in each case, is being managed repressively around the world. In countries under authoritarian regimes, of course. But even liberal democracies are no exception, pointed out Oscar Berglund, researcher and lead author of the report. Authorities, in particular, seem to focus on punishing dissent instead of addressing climate change issues. The main ways in which protests are criminalized include the introduction of laws that penalize groups and toughen penalties, the use of criminal justice, the strengthening of police powers, and the impunity surrounding abuses against activists.
Authors: ‘Protect the right to protest’
Nonviolent protests, the study points out, are often punished with long prison sentences, as in the case of climate activists in Britain. The same activism would also be “depoliticised” in the courts by countering recognition of environmental damage and, in general, references to the consequences of climate change. The report therefore calls for the protection of peaceful protest including through the abolition of laws that penalize those who use it.
