What stunned me about this AP piece is that I didn’t have a clue: 908 environmental activists have been killed in 35 countries because of their activism globally over the last decade! And that’s probably a low-ball figure, the report says, because reporting from the field in many countries is hard. And I knew little about this. It’s a shocker. Tom “As head of his village, Prajob Naowa-opas battled to save his community in central Thailand from the illegal dumping of toxic waste by filing petitions and leading villagers to block trucks carrying the stuff — until a gunman in broad daylight fired four shots into him. “A year later, his three alleged killers, including a senior government official, are on trial for murder. The dumping has been halted and villagers are erecting a statue to their slain hero. “But the prosecution of Prajobs murder is a rare exception. A survey released Tuesday -- the first comprehensive one of its kind - says that only 10 killers of 908 environmental activists slain around the world over the past decade have been convicted… “The rising deaths, along with non-lethal violence, are attributed to intensifying competition for shrinking resources in a global economy and abetted by authorities and security forces in some countries connected to powerful individuals, companies and others behind the killings.” bigstory.ap.org/article/killing-environmental-activists-rises-globally
Posted on: Thu, 17 Apr 2014 13:15:56 +0000