Voix du Paysan to train and inform citizens: a commitment to social and climate justice
Since 2012, at least 126 land and environmental rights defenders have been killed or gone missing in Africa, according to an alarming report by Global Witness. This chilling figure reveals the extreme danger faced by those who dare to oppose powerful economic, mining, or oil interests that threaten land, forests, and communities. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), rich in natural resources but plagued by corruption and conflict, accounts for nearly two-thirds of these cases.
In the DRC, the wealth of the soil becomes a curse
In the DRC, vast mineral and forest resources attract the greed of companies and powerful actors, often supported by foreign interests. Populations who try to defend their ancestral lands or denounce environmental destruction become targets. Threats, intimidation, arbitrary arrests, and assassinations are no longer rare, they have become a strategy of deterrence. The voices of defenders are being silenced when they should be amplified to guarantee justice, transparency, and sovereignty.
The urgency of international protection and fair climate justice
These repeated attacks highlight the urgent need for stronger protection of environmental defenders in Africa. The international community, African governments, and judicial institutions must act together so that these crimes do not go unpunished. There can be no climate justice without social justice. Protecting those who protect the planet is a collective responsibility, their fight for the land is also a fight for our shared future.
The Editorial Team
Silent but Targeted: African Land and Environmental Defenders Pay the High Price of Their Commitment
