Launch Event | Report on Enforced Disappearances in the Context of the Defence of Land, Natural Resources, and the Environment

About this Event

The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances will be launching its latest report on “Enforced Disappearances in the Context of the Defence of Land, Natural Resources, and the Environment » (A/HRC/60/35/Add.4) on 22 September 2025 at 15:30 CEST at Palais des Nations, Room IX, Building A, in the margins of the 137^th session of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.

The report examines the alarming global trend of enforced disappearances targeting individuals defending land, natural resources, and the environment (LNRE defenders). These disappearances often occur in contexts of systemic discrimination, weakened rule of law, and powerful economic interests, with the complicity or acquiescence of State authorities. The report highlights the disproportionate impact on Indigenous Peoples, Afro-Descendant communities, and rural populations, and underscores the role of business enterprises and financial institutions in enabling or perpetrating such violations with the State’s acquiescence.

Speakers

By order of intervention

Gabriella CITRONI

Chair-Rapporteur, Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances

Ana Lorena DELGADILLO

Member, Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances

Pinnapa PRUEKSAPAN

Wife of Porlajee “Billy” Rakchongcharoen

H.E. Amb. Michele CERVONE D'URSO

Deputy Permanent Representative of the European Union to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva

Miriam MIRANDA

General Coordinator, Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña (OFRANEH)

Albert K. BARUME

UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples

Ahmed MEFREH

Executive Director, Committee for Justice

Alejandra GONZA

Executive Director, Global Rights Advocacy

Hon. Idrissa SOW

Chairperson, Working Group on Death Penalty, Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Killings, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights

Anexa Brendalee ALFRED CUNNINGHAM

Chair, Expert Mechanism on the rights of Indigenous Peoples | Moderator

Highlights

Video

Summary

Anexa Brendalee ALFRED CUNNINGHAM | Chair, Expert Mechanism on the rights of Indigenous Peoples | Moderator

• The reason we gathered here today is the memory and the demand for justice for those who have disappeared in the context of defending land, territory, and natural resources. (Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples in the struggle for land, territory, natural resources, and life itself).
• They are defenders who courageously assumed the responsibility of protecting what belongs to all of us: water, forests, rivers, clean air, and the right to live with dignity in the territory that is ours by heritage and by identity.
• Because of that conviction, they are no longer physically with us. Their forced absence causes us pain, but it also drives us forward.
• This gathering is not only an act of memory, but also an act of resistance. Disappearance is not only an injustice against one person and their family—it is a collective wound that affects entire peoples, that tears the social fabric, and seeks to instill fear and dispossession.
• Yet here we are. We are gathered to show that memory is stronger than fear, that solidarity is more powerful than violence, and that hope cannot be erased.

Gabriella CITRONI | Chair-Rapporteur, Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances

• This study is a journey that we embarked on more than a year ago. At that time, in light of the cases that the Working Group was receiving, we understood that it was essential to address this issue. Very soon, we realized that it is a global phenomenon.
• We received submissions from across the world, from every region, and they only reconfirmed how urgent and important this question is.
• The report we are presenting today has already received significant attention. It is the result of a collective effort, and I would like it to be seen as such. In a moment, my colleague Lorena will present it in greater detail during this conference.
• Allow me, however, to highlight from the outset at least two groundbreaking aspects that distinguish this report from others, particularly those of our Working Group.
• Traditionally, our focus has been primarily on disappearances perpetrated by state agents. And while state agents are, of course, often involved, what clearly emerges here is the need to engage with additional actors: business enterprises, financial institutions, and other stakeholders. Addressing this dimension requires us to prepare for a different kind of struggle, to examine the problem from new angles.
• I believe this report offers very practical recommendations, making it an extremely useful tool. I see today’s event not as the end of our journey, but rather as a crucial step in the process.

Ana Lorena DELGADILLO | Member, Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances

• The report documents a global increase in enforced disappearances of defenders of land, natural resources, and the environment. Between 2012 and 2022, 173 defenders were killed—an average of one every two days.
• In 2023 alone, 43% of these were Indigenous people, and 12% were women. Unfortunately, there are no clear statistics specifically on enforced disappearances of defenders of land, natural resources, and the environment.
• It is important to emphasize that these defenders form a highly diverse group: rural communities, Indigenous peoples, farmers, herders, small-scale agricultural producers, lawyers, human rights defenders, journalists, and youth activists—all committed to protecting land, natural resources, and the environment. Women, in particular, face additional threats due to systemic discrimination.
• For Indigenous communities, the enforced disappearance of leaders deeply divides their social fabric and undermines traditional leadership.
• For many Indigenous peoples, land is sacred nourishment, inseparable from cultural identity—not merely an exploitable resource. Such disappearances cause long-term harm across generations, severing cultural ties, ancestral knowledge, and territorial connections.
• Our findings reveal that these enforced disappearances often occur in contexts of systemic discrimination, structural violence, colonial legacies, and environmental racism.
• Defenders face extremely powerful economic, political, and criminal interests, especially in countries where the rule of law is weak and institutions are vulnerable to corruption.
• Frequently, enforced disappearances result from collusion between the State, private enterprises, and organized crime groups—particularly in sectors such as mining, agribusiness, energy, and large-scale development projects.
• A key feature of this report is the issue of criminalization. Defenders are often stigmatized as “anti-development,” “terrorists,” or “eco-terrorists,” labels used to justify persecution.
• Other risk factors include weak land tenure protections, flawed or absent community consultations, lack of protective and search mechanisms, rampant impunity, militarization, and limited State presence in remote areas.
• In addition, lack of transparency and accountability by both companies and States further increases risks. Alarmingly, the expansion of renewable energy projects and carbon markets has also generated new conflicts, placing defenders at heightened risk.
• Perpetrators include state agents, transnational corporations, organized crime groups, private security companies, financial institutions, landowners, and settlers.
• In some regions, organized crime, under State complicity, has directly taken control of land and resource exploitation, dispossessing communities and committing enforced disappearances in the process.
• We also found that companies from developed countries exert influence in the Global South to shape laws and policies in their favor, often weakening protections and operating without transparency or accountability.
• Nonetheless, there are positive examples, such as the EU Directive 2024/1760 on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence, which requires companies to identify, prevent, and mitigate human rights impacts throughout their supply chains.
• France and Germany also provide important models with extraterritorial due diligence legislation.
• Financial institutions, development banks, and investors contribute to risks when they fund projects that fail to respect human rights, thereby creating conditions for repression and enforced disappearances.
• Let us recall that the prohibition of enforced disappearance is a jus cogens norm under international law—meaning no exceptions are permitted.
• All actors, including businesses and financial institutions, are obligated to prevent enforced disappearances of land and environmental defenders.
• Human rights due diligence requires companies to assess operations and financial relationships for risks of violations, particularly in conflict or high-risk contexts.
• When repression of defenders or land conflicts are foreseeable risks, failure to act diligently may constitute a breach of human rights responsibilities.
• States where companies are domiciled or headquartered also have the duty to cooperate in investigating and sanctioning violations committed abroad by entities under their jurisdiction.
• Defenders face multiple obstacles in filing complaints: many live in remote regions with little or no State presence, limiting access to justice.
• The absence of official data, combined with linguistic, cultural, and financial barriers, further hinders families from pursuing truth and justice.
• Defenders often confront some of the most powerful global actors, worsening their vulnerability and lack of protection.
• The report offers several recommendations. First and foremost, States must immediately search for disappeared land and environmental defenders—this was the principal demand echoed in more than 60 interviews conducted worldwide.
• States must also ensure that measures are adopted in direct consultation with affected communities, upholding their ancestral land rights and respecting the principle of free, prior, and informed consent.
• Given the transnational nature of many cases, strengthened international cooperation is essential. Specialized teams with independent experts should be established for search, investigation, and holistic reparations, always in consultation with affected communities.
• Trade agreements should explicitly prohibit enforced disappearances, include sanctions for corporate non-compliance, and require consultations with impacted communities.
• The report stresses that searches must be adapted to local contexts—what is appropriate in urban settings does not necessarily apply in Indigenous territories.
• Official narratives stigmatizing defenders must end, as must the misuse of criminal law to prosecute them under terrorism or organized crime charges.
• The report also provides concrete recommendations for companies: adopt robust human rights protections for defenders, conduct risk and conflict assessments in operational areas, engage in meaningful consultations with affected communities, prevent and mitigate adverse impacts, ensure transparency, and provide full access to information on project impacts.
• Companies should develop contingency strategies, use their influence to prevent abuses, adopt zero-tolerance policies on reprisals and enforced disappearances, and suspend operations in high-risk contexts where violations are foreseeable.
• Ultimately, defenders of land, natural resources, and the environment are defending life itself—our collective right to live on this planet.
• They are defending our rights. It is our duty to protect them and to take concrete action to prevent, eradicate, investigate, and repair the harm caused by enforced disappearances.
• Finally, I want to once again thank the many individuals, organizations, and partners who contributed to this report. Despite the UN’s current financial crisis, their solidarity made this work possible—supporting translation, dissemination, and outreach to ensure that this message reaches the affected communities.

Pinnapa PRUEKSAPAN | Wife of Porlajee “Billy” Rakchongcharoen

• Billy was an ordinary person from Bangkloi Village in Thailand. He ran for a local council seat in the Mae Phian Subdistrict and won. After that, he began helping his family members and others in the village. Whenever problems arose, he stepped in to help. For example, he supported Karen community leader Grandpa Ko-i, whose house in Bangkloi Village was burned down, forcing him to leave his homeland in the mountains. Billy tried to find ways to help Grandpa Ko-i and other villagers so their living conditions could be improved. Eventually, he took Grandpa Ko-i to court to file a case.
• One day, a friend asked Billy to deliver wild honey to his boss in downtown Kaeng Krachan District. Billy was detained at a checkpoint before reaching his destination. The checkpoint was located at the entrance to the national park in front of Bangkloi Village. After that, Billy disappeared.
• After Billy was detained and went missing, I didn’t know what to do. I first lodged a complaint at the Kaeng Krachan police station in the morning, but the police turned me away, saying there was no basis for filing a complaint. I returned in the afternoon, and they told me they had contacted the national park chief, who admitted to detaining Billy but claimed he had been released after receiving a warning.
• It has now been 11 years, and progress has been painfully slow. I wish things could move faster. As his family, we continue to take care of many responsibilities on his behalf. Every six months, we pay his insurance premium, which weighs heavily on us, especially as we face other financial burdens. I want his case to be resolved as soon as possible so we can claim the insurance and no longer have to pay the premiums.
• Since the new act was enacted, I haven’t seen any benefits for Billy’s case. I feel that perhaps it’s because I am indigenous. That’s why nothing seems to work in my favor. Some people say Billy’s case was dropped from the working group’s list, but when I asked them during a meeting, they said it is still among their pending cases and has not been removed.
• I’ve met with the working group twice. I felt reassured. If his case had been removed, I would have asked them to reconsider adding it back. In one meeting, I shared Billy’s story and what happened in Bangkloi Village. The working group sent letters to the Thai government requesting updates on the case. They play a leading role in following up on developments related to Billy’s disappearance.
• I wish the working group could do more. For example, they could visit the place where the disappearance occurred. Seeing it firsthand would help them understand what happened beyond news reports or hearsay. I hope they can visit all the locations connected to the case themselves.
• I would also like the working group to urge the Thai government to provide reparations to all victims, whether through psychological support or financial assistance to improve their well-being. Reparations don’t necessarily have to be monetary. They could take the form of goods, land, or other resources that best meet the victims’ needs.

H.E. Amb. Michele CERVONE D’URSO | Deputy Permanent Representative of the European Union to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva

• Human rights and environmental defenders are facing enormous challenges. Enforced disappearances are, for us, one of the most extreme forms of attack against you. Yet, in many cases, they can be prevented through advocacy, diplomacy, protection, and relocation measures.
• From the European Union’s side, I want to assure you that we are fully committed to supporting you.
• This is not only a matter of words—we are mobilizing concrete tools to champion your cause globally.
• First, we have our worldwide network of EU delegations. These should be your first point of contact if you have concerns or issues to raise, since they engage in bilateral dialogues with many countries. For example, last year we held discussions with Brazil, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, China, and others.
• Second, we provide resources. We have a dedicated program amounting to over 30 million euros to support human rights defenders, making the EU one of the largest donors in this field. In addition, we have established the Human Rights Defenders Mechanism, known as ProtectDefenders.eu.
• This mechanism is specifically designed to assist defenders at risk and their families, providing a holistic range of support, including relocation, training, and capacity-building. These measures are directed especially at those on the front lines.
• Now, turning to the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. Although it may sound technical or bureaucratic, in fact it is a powerful and operational tool.
• Almost a year ago, the EU launched this initiative—the first comprehensive framework of its kind—to hold businesses accountable, both within the EU and beyond, for their environmental and human rights impacts.
• We are now approaching the final stages of the legislative process, expected to conclude by the end of this year. Thus, today’s event is particularly timely.
• Why is this directive important for you—environmental and land defenders? Firstly, it requires close attention to the situation of defenders standing up to businesses in areas such as resource extraction, agriculture, or other activities that may lead to enforced disappearances.
• It explicitly includes provisions for the protection of defenders themselves, recognizing the critical role you play in safeguarding human rights and the environment.
• More specifically, the directive obliges companies to assess and address risks related to human rights and environmental impacts throughout their supply chains. This is a game changer.
• It requires companies to consider the safety and rights of defenders, and to take measures to prevent and mitigate any adverse effects on you that may arise from corporate operations.
• The directive also highlights the importance of stakeholder engagement. Defenders, local communities, and all those affected must be included in these processes.
• Engagement is essential to identify risks and to develop strategies to protect individuals who may be threatened or harmed by corporate activity.
• This directive is rightly mentioned as a best practice, but the challenge now is implementation.
• We must ensure that its principles are translated into action, creating a safer and more accountable environment for environmental and land defenders, while recognizing your vital contribution to sustainable corporate practices and to the protection of our planet.

Miriam MIRANDA | General Coordinator, Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña (OFRANEH)

• This is a milestone in the history of addressing enforced disappearances, because there are so many people who disappear, people for whom we have no data, no information—especially those in territories and communities across Latin America.
• I would like to briefly share some points. In the case of Honduras, today I speak about the disappearance of our brothers—Sneider, Milton, Suami, and Gerardo. They were taken from their homes during the pandemic, when there was a strict curfew and only the security forces were allowed to circulate.
• This fact must be acknowledged, and for this reason we are convinced that the State bears responsibility for this enforced disappearance.
• Our brothers were Garífuna community leaders. One of them, the president of the community council of Triunfo de la Cruz, had been demanding compliance with the judgments of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in favor of the Garífuna people.
• Just a week before his disappearance, he gave interviews where he denounced the State’s failure to comply. The Garífuna people have three such judgments from the Court, one of them concerning Triunfo de la Cruz, the very community where these men were forcibly taken.
• Today, one of the sisters of the disappeared is here with us. Speaking of this for the first time is difficult—please forgive me. I myself received the phone call that informed us of their disappearance. It is a call I will never forget. Enforced disappearance is meant to cause pain and terror, to break the spirit not only of families, but also of organizations, communities, and the social fabric that sustains our struggle.
• What happened became a political experiment in Honduras. The Garífuna people had never before been attacked in this way. Many have disappeared, many have been killed. We are criminalized, judicially persecuted, and stigmatized. But what does it mean when people are taken from their homes and never accounted for?
• When we denounced this crime and demanded justice, instead of investigating the perpetrators, the authorities criminalized our organization. They even summoned us to court, as if we were responsible for the disappearances.
• Instead of investigating, instead of addressing the root causes, they turn against the very organizations to which the victims belonged. They even orchestrated media campaigns to discredit us.
• We live in a country that is, in reality, a failed State. The territories of the Garífuna people are besieged daily by organized crime, and we must continue our struggle in this hostile environment.
• In many Indigenous territories, organized crime has taken complete control, displacing entire communities. Entire villages disappear—not only individuals—because people are forced to flee.
• From OFRANEH, we created a Committee for Justice and the Search for our Brothers from Triunfo de la Cruz on 11 November 2020. We have demanded that this Committee be incorporated into the official investigation, but our requests have been consistently denied.
• There has been no genuine search, no effort to identify the root causes or those who plan these crimes. Because enforced disappearance is not only about those who execute it—there are also those who plan it, those who benefit from it, who never face justice and remain untouchable.
• I am grateful for the opportunity to speak here today and, above all, I commend the fact that the issue of enforced disappearances is now being explicitly linked to struggles over territory, natural resources, and the environment. These disappearances are being used as a strategy to spread fear and death in communities.
• Thank you very much for this opportunity. This subject is extremely painful for us, and often silence has been our only refuge. But sometimes we must set aside that pain, if only for a moment, in order to keep fighting.

Albert K. BARUME | UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples

• From my perspective, the report captures very well the profound impact of enforced disappearances on Indigenous Peoples.
• When we consider that Indigenous Peoples make up only 5% of the world’s population but safeguard over 70% of the planet’s biodiversity, that statistic alone tells us everything we need to know about the importance of protecting them.
• For someone in my mandate, keeping track of Indigenous Peoples’ rights and highlighting violations is essential.
• Reports like this are invaluable because they provide that data, that disaggregation, which allows us to see clearly how Indigenous Peoples are disproportionately affected.
• This is my first point: the importance of documenting and presenting evidence that makes visible the specific impacts on Indigenous communities.
• My second point relates to my upcoming report on land and resources, which I will be presenting to the General Assembly. This report highlights that Indigenous Peoples’ lands are under unprecedented pressure due to several converging factors.
  • First, the global demand for transition minerals—key to the energy transition—has placed Indigenous territories at the center of extractive interests. Studies show that 40 to 50% of these minerals are located on or near Indigenous lands.
  • Second, we see the rapid expansion of protected areas, with states pledging to turn 30% of natural territory into conservation zones. While conservation is vital, in practice many of these areas overlap with Indigenous territories, creating new conflicts, displacements, and human rights violations.
  • Third, the carbon market and renewable energy projects are intensifying pressures on Indigenous territories. My office has begun receiving communications linking carbon offset projects to land grabbing, restrictions, and community displacement.
  • Finally, Indigenous Peoples often live in border regions of high geopolitical importance, where transnational pressures, militarization, and conflicts over resources exacerbate violations of their rights.
• Taken together, these dynamics reveal an extremely high demand for Indigenous lands. And this demand is leading directly to violations of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, including enforced disappearances.
• Let me also note that most Indigenous Peoples live in the last remaining intact ecosystems of the planet. Historically, they have been pushed back whenever states, companies, or other actors claimed their land. But today, there is no more land to retreat to.
• This explains the rising tensions between Indigenous Peoples and states or companies. With nowhere else to go, Indigenous Peoples are left with no option but to resist—and we see the consequences in the growing number of reprisals, criminalization, and enforced disappearances.
• My last point is a call to action. I encourage the Working Group to continue documenting these realities, to keep highlighting how Indigenous Peoples are particularly affected by enforced disappearances, and to ensure that the voices of these communities remain central.
• For mandates like mine, this report is a powerful tool. It provides the evidence needed to advocate for Indigenous Peoples’ rights, and it exposes the deep hypocrisy when states or businesses claim to protect the planet while violating the rights of those who safeguard it.

Ahmed MEFREH | Executive Director, Committee for Justice

• The thematic report we launch today clearly shows how enforced disappearances are increasingly used against land, natural resources, and environmental defenders, often in contexts of systemic discrimination, weak rule of law, and powerful economic or political interests.
• From our work at the Committee for Justice, I can confirm these are not abstract trends but lived realities—in Egypt, Sudan, and across other countries.
• In Egypt, the situation in North Sinai illustrates this. Our documentation shows enforced disappearances have been systematically linked to the forced displacement of entire communities as part of so-called “buffer zone” and military operations. According to our joint work with the Foundation for Human Rights, more than 100,000 people were displaced, at least 12,000 buildings demolished, and large areas of farmland destroyed between 2013 and 2020.
• At CFJ, we have recorded cases of individuals forcibly disappeared for documenting violence against Indigenous people in North Sinai, against the forcibly displaced, and for being present in conflict areas—then accused of supporting armed groups. One striking example is human rights defender Ahmad Hamzah, missing for one year after being arrested on 23 September 2024; there has been no information on his fate. In military case No. 80/2023, civilians were sentenced to three to ten years in prison simply for demanding the right to return home—precisely what the report describes: branding local communities and defenders as “terrorists” or “anti-development” to justify enforced disappearance, forced displacement, and repression.
• In Sudan, since the outbreak of conflict in April 2023, enforced disappearances have escalated dramatically. Together with partners, we have documented numerous missing persons, particularly from the Masalit, Fur, and Zaghawa communities—people defending their land and resources who have become targets of killing, kidnapping, and disappearance. Here, the absence of the State did not mean safety—it meant silent approval.
• Across countries, defenders face compounded risks, caught between armed groups and state security forces in areas rich in natural resources but marked by weak institutions. Communities that speak out against the unfair use of their land are met with threats and systematic disappearances, while those responsible go unpunished. This is exactly the risk landscape the report identifies for conflict-affected settings.
• What is needed now is not only recognition but action: criminalization of enforced disappearance in national law in line with international standards; accountability for perpetrators—including state agents, businesses, and financial institutions benefiting from forced displacement and land grabbing; and, above all, protection for defenders. Those who defend land and the environment protect not only their communities but our collective future. We must ensure their struggle is heard.

Alejandra GONZA | Executive Director, Global Rights Advocacy

• On behalf of Global Rights Advocacy, we are honored to sponsor the launch of this report on enforced disappearances in the context of defending land, natural resources, and the environment.
• Special recognition to the families, communities, defenders, and organizations whose courage and voices are at the heart of this report.
• Let us reflect on the human impact behind the data and legal analysis. How many of you know a colleague, a friend, an environmental defender who has been a victim of enforced disappearance? I hold the haunting image of my friend, counsel Ricardo Lagunes Gasca, and his client Antonio Díaz Valencia, an Indigenous leader who disappeared in Mexico on 15 January 2023.
• They had just won a crucial legal battle against a mining development. The full plan behind their disappearance—including the alleged role of a European corporation and security forces in a militarized region—remains hidden.
• The report highlights systemic failures of shared and differentiated responsibility across three fronts:
• States where the crimes occur. Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries for environmental defenders. With over 100,000 disappeared and more than 72,000 unidentified bodies, it is no surprise that Global Witness and others have documented disappearances of environmental defenders tied to extractive industries. Instead of finding defenders, institutions stigmatize them. Instead of searching for the missing, they dismantle the very bodies created to do so, while persecuting prosecutors, lawyers, and journalists. This culminates in the denial of denials—a campaign to “disappear the disappeared” by claiming they do not exist—against a backdrop of clandestine graves while defenders continue to vanish.
• Corporations. Many distance themselves from the fact that their supply chains cross territories the government itself labels high-risk. They maintain lax policies on prevention and reparation and fail to conduct enhanced due diligence, specifically failing to address the grave risk of enforced disappearance.
• Home states and financiers. They provide the legal and financial shelter that allows corporations to operate with near-impunity, failing to mandate and enforce enhanced due diligence that could save lives.
• Globally, we see regression: retreats from multilateral human rights commitments and weakening of laws that hold companies accountable. Defenders are ever more isolated.
• What can we do? We must demand a new era of accountability with shared responsibility. Governments must work directly with families, using intelligence and science to find the disappeared; require enhanced human rights due diligence as a condition of trade and investment; and provide refuge for defenders at risk. Corporations must investigate their operations, mitigate risks, and use their leverage to prevent disappearances. Financiers must ensure their capital does not fund blood.
• This report answers whether corporations have obligations to search for the disappeared: yes. It provides a roadmap to ensure the voices of the disappeared are heard and the responses strengthened

Hon. Idrissa SOW | Chairperson, Working Group on Death Penalty, Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Killings, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights

• The report is both useful and well-crafted.
• The report analyzes risk and vulnerability factors related to enforced disappearances and formulates recommendations for both state and non-state actors.
• What is particularly perverse here is that the very state entity meant to protect citizens is often responsible for the disappearance. There are no acceptable alternatives or derogations—these are norms of the highest order.
• Allow me to link your study to the mandate of the African Commission. Africa is seeing a massive influx of capital. UNCTAD’s latest report shows USD 94 billion in foreign direct investment to the continent in 2024.
• There is a clear correlation between increased FDI and risks to the environment and natural resources.
• We saw a first generation of investment treaties that prioritized investor protection; now paradigms are shifting to emphasize environmental and natural resource protection—and the Commission is deeply engaged.
• In 2023, during our 28th ordinary session, the Commission recognized that protecting rights to land and natural resources is essential to the survival of Indigenous communities in Africa.
• In 2025, we reaffirmed our commitment to protecting human rights defenders, particularly environmental defenders. Our Guidelines for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances identify Indigenous peoples as among the most vulnerable to this crime.
• African courts are also ruling on these matters. In 2017, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights issued a landmark judgment on the Ogiek community in Kenya, finding multiple violations of the African Charter for denying access to the Mau Forest—ancestral land. These examples show that the themes of your report are at the heart of our concerns.
• This study will serve as an advocacy tool for our Commission. At our next session, we will organize an official launch. We will use it in our engagement with States during promotion missions and when States present their periodic reports. I warmly congratulate you again.

Q&A

On Indigenous Peoples’ situation

• An intervention highlighted enforced disappearances in the context of illegal mining. In Venezuela, the State and armed groups are exploiting mining areas. Those who denounce abuses face criminalization; some have been killed (e.g., Humberto Yosuino, still without justice). Massacres in Indigenous territories were cited (e.g., Comarcapal, 2019; and the Yapacana operation), with testimony of mass graves. The issue spans six Amazonian states—over 51% of national territory—rich in biodiversity, water, and minerals. When Indigenous peoples protect these areas and speak out, they are silenced or forced into exile.
• Honduras (community cases): as Ángel Peña and Nos (a mother whose child was abducted), as well as broader patterns of enforced disappearance. The call was to name these cases publicly and recognize that such disappearances recur day by day.
• What is the UN Working Group doing, and how can the EU be pressed to act more firmly?

Ana Lorena DELGADILLO

• The Working Group is coordinating with the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights to strengthen complementary strategies—building on the UN Guiding Principles—to prevent abuses and consolidate legislative advances, with a focus on implementation. Solidarity has been crucial to this report: civil society helped conduct regional consultations and provided photographs of disappeared defenders displayed here. Thanks to support from funders, universities, and Front Line Defenders, the UN report—officially released in English—is now available in Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Thai, with the aim that Indigenous peoples can access it in their own languages. The report will also be presented at the African Commission, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and, if possible, in the European system and at country level—both to remember and to center defenders’ voices.

H.E. Amb. Michele CERVONE D’URSO

• Work on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive continues. While simplification is sought in a competitive environment, it must not water down human rights or environmental objectives. Preserving these goals while ensuring implementation remains essential.

Closing Remarks

Anexa Brendalee ALFRED CUNNINGHAM

• With the launch of this report, we must renew our collective commitment: to reject silence; to stand with families and communities searching for their loved ones; to demand truth and justice; and to protect those who defend the most essential right of all—the right to life in harmony with the Earth.
• Let this be a call for each of us to contribute—through political action, social accompaniment, research, education, or simple, active empathy that refuses to look away.
• Caring for the Earth and for those who defend it is not the duty of a few; it is a shared task, a debt to the present and to future generations.
• There will be no peace while disappearance and impunity persist.
• There will be no democracies while those who defend the commons are silenced.
• There will be no future if we allow those who fight for life to be uprooted.

Links

• A/HRC/60/35/Add.4 | Enforced Disappearances in the Context of the Defence of Land, Natural Resources, and the Environment | WG on enforced disappearances
• UN Working Group report sheds light on enforced disappearances of defenders of land, natural resources and environment | OHCHR Special Procedures Press Release | 17 September 2025
• Roots of resistance: Documenting the global struggles of defenders protecting land and environmental rights | Global Witness | 17 September 2025
• Environmental Human Rights Defenders and the Role of Geneva | GEN

Environmental Human Rights Defenders and the Role of Geneva

Environmental human rights defenders are those who strive to protect and promote human rights relating to the environment. However, evidence suggests that they remain highly vulnerable and under attack across the globe. This update looks at the steps taken by the international community in Geneva to protect, promote, and uphold the rights of environmental defenders.