‘We’re still in the dark’: a missing land defender and the deadly toll of land conflict on Indigenous people | Land rights

ONe Day last November, Julia Chuñil called her dog, Cholito, and they left in the woods around her house to search for lost cattle. The animals returned but Chuñil, who was 72 years old at the time, and Cholito did not do so.

More than 100 people joined his family in a lasting excavation in the steep, humid and densely invasive ground of the old Valdivian forest of Chile. After a month, they even kept an eye on vultures for all dark signs. But they found no trace of Chuñil.

Chuñil is one of the 146 land and environmental defenders who were killed or disappeared in the world last year, according to a report by the Global Witness campaign group. About a third of them, like Chuñil, came from indigenous communities – a heavy price for groups that collectively represent 6% of the world’s population.

Chuñil, a chief of the Aboriginal Mapuche of Chile, lived on disputed land. Ten years ago, she moved to Reserve Cora, a part of 900 hectares (2,200 acres) of the old Valdivian forest at 500 miles south of Santiago, which her people claimed as ancestral territory.

She spent years campaigning to obtain land rights on the site of her community. But the nominal owner of the site, the descendant of the colonists, refused to give up control. He wanted the site of the logging – Chile is a large wood supplier in the United States – and he wanted to get rid of Chuñil. Before disappearing, Chuñil told the supporters: “If something happens to me, you already know who did it.”

The global witness began to document the cases of murders and disappearances of land and environmental defenders in 2012. Since then, he brought together a total of 2,253 cases. Over the past decade, the most dangerous place has been Latin America. In 2024, he represented 82% of cases, including 45 natives.

“Land conflicts are at the heart of violence against defenders, and indigenous peoples pay the highest prize,” said Javier Garate, Senior Policy Advisor at Global Witness. “Communities with ancestral ties to the land often form the front line of the Resistance when their territories are threatened with exploitation and encroachment. But despite their critical role, they are often refused recognition and justice, and subject to a serious danger for the defense of their legitimate lands. ”

Chuñil was the only case recorded in his country last year, although he adapted a targeting model for Mapuche activists in Chile. Colombia has recorded 48 cases, which makes it the deadliest country in all environmental defenders, followed by Guatemala with 20, the deadliest country per capita. Mexico had 19 cases, put it in third place in total.

The sub-declaration remains a problem, in particular in Asia and Africa, which recorded 16 and nine cases respectively, said the global witness. Overall, last year, the least case of murders and disappearances of environmental defenders was registered for a decade.

Laura Furones, who led research for Global Witness, said: “I would also like to be able to tell you that this implies a decrease in violence and an improvement in defenders, but unfortunately this is not the case.

Chuñil’s family continued to continue justice, but their advocacy has targeted threats and intimidation. In April, two animals from the home of Chuñil which they had planned at auction to finance legal fees were found killed, a shot and a poisoned. “It is, above all, a deliberate attempt to prevent us from fighting this case,” his son Pablo San Martín told Global Witness.

The group’s report calls on governments to act to put an end to the impunity of the killers of environmental defenders by attacking the lack of rights that defenders have on land and territory, the strengthening of low national legal systems and the guarantee of defenders in danger receive adequate protection of the state.

“All we ask is a complete and fair investigation that takes place,” said San Martín about his mother’s case. “It has been almost a year since she disappeared and we are still in ignorance of what happened. We want those behind it to be identified and loaded. ”