The growing threat to indigenous human rights defenders: a call to protect those who protect
Indigenous human rights defenders face a constant and growing threat around the world. Front Line Defenders’ recent report 2024-2025 highlights that while indigenous peoples represent only 6% of the world’s population, they make up 17.9% of all human rights defenders killed. This alarming statistic reflects a systemic crisis of violence and criminalisation against those protecting their territories, cultures and rights.
They claim that governments around the world deliberately misuse the judicial system in order to silence human rights defenders. More specifically, defenders protecting land rights and indigenous peoples face increasing specific threats from paramilitary groups and corporations.
In Brazil, for example, armed rural militias deliberately attacked communities. In Mexico, these people have been systematically arbitrarily detained and given long prison sentences in a context of virulent racism. In addition, indigenous women, because they are women, experience specific violence, as in Guatemala, where an alarming number of indigenous women have faced evictions and report physical and sexual aggression, as well as being subjected to criminalisation by companies.
According to the report, Latin America has become the most lethal region for human rights defenders, especially for indigenous peoples. Colombia leads the murder statistics, with 157 social leaders and defenders killed during 2024, and 71 social leaders killed between January and May 2025, with the department of Cauca, Magdalena Medio and other areas in the southwest of the country being the most affected. This violence persists despite government efforts to establish ceasefires and peace dialogues, highlighting the lack of effective protection and impunity faced by these communities.
In Mexico, the situation is no less worrying, with cases of arbitrary detention, prolonged pre-trial detention and disproportionate sentences against indigenous defenders. One example is that of priest Marcelo Pérez Pérez, who was murdered after celebrating mass in his neighborhood in the state of Chiapas. Marcelo had received threats for more than 10 years for attempting to protect the rights of indigenous peoples in Chiapas and denouncing the presence of organized groups supported by economic and political groups in Simojovel. In addition, the Mexican Center for Environmental Law (CEMDA) reported more than 582 aggressions against environmental defenders in 2022, with indigenous peoples being the most affected, representing 56% of the documented cases.
In the African region, the risks faced by human rights defenders protecting the environment and the rights of indigenous peoples are equally alarming. In areas such as Côte d’Ivoire and Namibia, they have been the target of threats and life-threatening attacks. Similarly, in Tanzania, some 500 villagers were illegally evicted from their land by the government, subjected to torture, had their crops, food and homes destroyed and their animals slaughtered. Incidents of sexual violence and cases of missing persons were also reported.
In Asia, defenders were similarly targeted using opaque and politicized judicial systems, failing to meet their own standards. For example, in India, people defending Dalit human rights and indigenous peoples’ access to land were systematically smeared as militants supporting the banned Communist Party of India. Similarly, the Philippines uses “red tagging” to criminalize them and brand them as terrorists or members of illegal organizations, which is simply the beginning of further serious attacks on their physical integrity.
Indigenous women defenders face a triple threat: because of their gender, their indigenous identity and their activism. According to the Front Line Defenders report, 13.3% of the murdered defenders were women. These women suffer physical, psychological and sexual violence, in addition to being stigmatized and criminalized for their work in defense of their territories and cultures.
Despite these adversities, many women leaders have made significant gains by being at the forefront of the women’s movements in 2024. This was particularly prominent in Bangladesh, where young women not only actively participated in, but also organized and led the protest movement that succeeded in toppling the authoritarian regime of Sheikh Hasina. In a country that ranks 131 out of 162 on the United Nations Gender Inequality Index, the widespread participation of women in the demonstrations marked an important milestone, reflecting the changing role of women human rights defenders within the country’s social and political context.
In short, the alarming situation of indigenous women human rights defenders requires immediate and concrete action. It is essential that governments implement effective protection policies, guarantee justice and recognize the vital role they play in the preservation of the environment and cultural diversity. Protecting those they protect is a shared responsibility that cannot wait.
Faced with this worrying reality, from FIBGAR we offer a free online course, designed to broaden the understanding of the rights and challenges of indigenous peoples. This training is aimed at activists, students, professionals and anyone interested in learning about and supporting the indigenous cause. It also includes additional educational resources and in-depth interviews with indigenous defenders from different territories.
Access the course “Guardians of the planet: the rights of indigenous peoples”: https://cursos.fibgar.es/
Carmen Coleto Martínez, FIBGAR Project Manager.
