The stories come to us one at a time. A woman’s body found in a trash heap. Two protesters shot during a demonstration. A man who just stepped out for milk gunned down by masked assailants on a motorcycle.
These are not just stories, however. They are people who hail from communities where the struggle for natural resources is taking a bloody and desperate turn. These people are environmental defenders, and they are our colleagues, our collaborators, our friends. And the message is clear: In many countries, if you dare to stand up to dam builders, loggers and mining companies, you and your family will face constant danger, and perhaps death.
In 2015, at least 185 environmental defenders were killed, according to Global Witness. Many of them were dam fighters. At International Rivers, we’re aware of over a hundred activists who have paid the ultimate price for defending their rivers – and there are likely many more cases we’re not aware of.
We protest each dam fighter’s violent death. We work to hold the murderers and their backers to account – often, tragically, without success. And we honor our fallen friends by making their names public in this roster, so they will always be remembered.
This memorial is dedicated to Nilce de Souza Magalhães, Berta Cáceres, Teresito Mula Labastilla and all the other activists who have sacrificed their lives for their rivers.
May they rest in peace.
| 2018 |
| Saw O Moo Myanmar Salween RiverSaw O Moo, 42, was a community leader and father of seven who was devoted to preserving the culture and traditional lives of Myanmar’s ethnic minority Karen people. He was shot dead while on his way home on April 5 by the Burmese military. Saw was a member of the Karen Environmental and Social Action Network and a strong advocate for the Salween Peace Park. |
| Carlos Hernandez Honduras Jilamito RiverHonduran lawyer Carlos Hernández was a strong supporter of river defenders in the town of Arizona who were resisting a hydroelectric dam planned for the Jilamito River. He had recently committed to representing the town’s mayor, Arnaldo Chacón, who – along with four other local leaders – are facing criminal charges for their peaceful opposition to the project. He was found murdered in his office in the town of Tela de Atlántida in April, 2018. |
| Ricardo Pugong Mayumi Philippines Quadriver Mini Hydro DamIndigenous and environmental activist Ricardo Pugong Mayumi devoted his life to defending the land, life and resources of the Tinoc Kalanguya people in the Philippines. A prominent critic of the Quadriver Mini Hydro Dam and a leader of the Ifugao Peasant Movement, the 52-year-old Mayumi was gunned down by two assassins at his home on March 2, 2018. |
| Jomo Nyanguti Kenya Bonyunyu DamMr. Nyanguti was protesting the controversial Bonyunyu Dam when he was shot for reportedly confronting police officers who were guarding surveyors mapping the dam site on January 9, 2018. Locals have been fighting the water storage project, which they say will displace thousands from their ancestral lands, and which has moved forward with no public consultation. Police also arrested three people during the confrontation. |
| 2016 Nilce de Souza Magalhães Brazil Jirau Dam A leader of the Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAB), Magalhães criticized human rights violations committed by Sustainable Energy Brazil (SEB), the organization behind the Lake Dam Hydroelectric Plant in Jirau. Magalhães went missing on January 7, 2016 and her body was found by hydro workers on June 21, 2016 in the Jirau Reservoir. |
| Two Anti-Dam Protesters India Multiple DamsOn May 2, 2016, two people were killed and many injured while protesting the arrest of the anti-dam activist Lama Lobsang Gyatso, secretary of Save Mon Region Federation (SMRF). Under Lobsang Gyatso’s leadership, SMRF has been opposing some dam projects, and advocating for socio-culturally and ecologically sensitive development in the Mon-Tawang region. Police opened fire on the crowd. The 31-year-old Tsering Tempa was shot point blank in the head. Nyima Wangdi, a 21-year-old Buddhist monk from the Tawang Monastery was shot twice. |
| Atilano Román Tirado Mexico Picachos DamBased in Sinaloa, Mr. Tirado was one of the leaders of roughly 800 families who were demanding compensation after being displaced by the Picachos Dam. On March 21, as Atilano Román Tirado was hosting a local radio show, gunmen forced their way into the studio and shot him dead. He was known as an outspoken critic of the dam and the government. |
| Berta Cáceres Honduras Agua Zarca Dam A Honduran activist, and our good friend, Berta Cáceres was shot and killed in her home on March 3, 2016 for her opposition to the Agua Zarca Dam project. Four people with ties to the dam builder DESA were arrested in connection with her murder in May 2016. In June, a Honduran soldier claimed that a unit trained by US special forces was ordered to kill the environmental activist. |
| 2015 |
| Rosalinda Pérez Guatemala Tres Marías Dam Dona Rosalinda Pérez, an active women’s leader in her local community in Jocotán and throughout Guatemala, used her influence to organize against the construction of the Tres Marías Dam. On the afternoon of December 30, 2015, she was shot and killed by five men who entered her store under the pretense of buying gasoline. There were no signs of robbery, leading witnesses to believe that the men were assassins hired to kill Pérez. |
| Hitler Ananías Rojas González Peru Chadin II Dam On his way home from a protest against a hydroelectric project, 34-year-old Hitler Rojas Gonzales was shot dead. The killing took place on December 28, 2015 in the village of Yagén in the north of the country. Rojas had recently been elected mayor of Yagén and was a local leader of environmental and peasant defense actions. |
| Javier Vásquez Benítez Honduras Multiple DamsOn December 20, 2015, Javier Vásquez Benítez was found beaten to death. Mr. Benítez was part of the Movimiento Indígena Independiente Lenca de la Paz – Honduras (MILPAH), an indigenous organization fighting several hydroelectric projects in Honduras. |
| Sebastian Córdova Sajic Guatemala Palo Viejo, Vega I, Vega II dams On September 10, 2015, the Guatemalan Constitutional court ordered the suspension of licenses for the construction of the Vega I and Vega II hydroelectric projects in the Ixil territory of Guatemala. The next day, the body of Sebastian Sajic Córdova, a 70 year-old Mayan spiritual guide, community leader, anti-dam activist and genocide survivor, was found dead along a trail in the municipality of Cotzal. He had been beaten to death with a cane. |
| Ageo Isaac Guitz Maaz Guatemala Hidro Santa Rita Dam On August 15, 2015 Guatemala’s Ministry of Interior initiated a repressive operation against the Q’eqchi communities of Cobán, Chisec and Raxruha. The indigenous communities were peacefully defending their way of life and territory against the construction of the Santa Rita hydroelectric dam. Two children of the community, including Ageo Isaac Guitz Maaz, were shot and killed by assailants searching for an activist. In another incident, assailants opened fire on the community, hurting five and killing one young man. |
| Alfredo Felipe Ramos Guatemala Hidro Santa Cruz Dam Alfredo Felipe Ramos was a member of the Resistencia Santa Cruz Barillas actively involved in the fight against Hidro Santa Cruz. He was murdered on May 28, 2015. |
| Moisés Durón Sanchéz Honduras Agua Zarca Dam On the afternoon of May 20, 2015, Moisés was murdered by gunmen linked to a powerful family in the region of the community of Somolagua, San Juan. Moisés was a prominent indigenous leader in his community and an active member of COPINH. Prior to his death, he was actively involved in a land reclamation process for 25 families in the Somolagua community. |
| Daniel Vilanova Dias Brazil Belo Monte Dam On May 18, 2015, Dias was one of two protesters killed when a car intentionally rammed a protest against Belo Monte Dam in Vitória do Xingu. The protest was organized by river dwellers and fishermen who were asking Norte Energia to recognize their rights as dam-affected people. |
| Leidiane Drosdroski Machado Brazil Belo Monte Dam On May 18, 2015, Machado was one of two protesters killed when a car intentionally rammed a protest against Belo Monte Dam in Vitória do Xingu. The protest was organized by river dwellers and fishermen who were asking Norte Energia to recognize their rights as dam-affected people. |
| Silvestre Maneule Gómez Honduras Los Encinos Dam In May 2015, the body of human rights defender Silvestre Manueles Gómez was found, dismembered, on the bank of the Chinacla River, on the border of the departments of Intibucá and La Paz. |
| José Isabel Cervantes Ángeles Mexico Water activist José Isabel Cervantes Ángeles, 42, was found dead inside a municipal well in Coyotepec on April 18, 2015. His body showed signs of torture and mutilation. Cervantes Ángeles had been repeatedly threatened with death if he didn’t stop his activism on behalf of community water wells and against a municipal takeover of these wells. |
| Caño Mateo Mateo Guatemala Hidro Santa Cruz Dam Caño Mateo Mateo was a member of the Resistencia Santa Cruz Barillas actively involved in the fight against Hidro Santa Cruz. He was murdered on April 12, 2015. |
| Pascual Pablo Francisco Guatemala Hidro Santa Cruz Dam On March 27, 2015, Indigenous activist Pascual Pablo Francisco, a leader in the fight against the construction of a dam on the K’anbalam River, was found dead in the village of Chancolin in Santa Cruz Barillas. Mayan leaders from the Huehuetenango region assert that the company Hidro Santa Cruz orchestrated his kidnapping, torture, and murder, to weaken indigenous activism and intimidate community organizers in the region. |
| Alberto Almeida Fernández Mexico Alberto Almeida was a former mayor and activist who defended water rights and the preservation of aquifers in Chihuahua, Mexico. He was killed on February 24, 2015 by unidentified persons who shot him several times in the parking lot of a shopping center. He was with his daughter and wife at the time. |
| Teresito Mula Labastilla Philippines A former priest and indigenous rights advocate, Teresito Mula Labastilla was a well known environmental activist in Lantapan, Bukidnon. Before his death, he ran an unsuccessful campaign for mayor on the platform of resolving land and water rights issues for local indigenous peoples. On the morning of February 2, 2015, after dropping his son off at school, he was shot by unknown, masked assailants. Onlookers brought him to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. |
Pascual Basilio Pascual Diego Guatemala In the early morning of January 20, 2015, supporters of the mayor of Santa Eulalia in Guatemala shot at a crowd of peaceful protesters outside a government building. The crowd was exiting the Administrative Justice Center after many hours spent negotiating environmental damages by the Proyecto de Desarrollo Hidroelectrico (PDH), a hydroelectric company. 20-year-old Pascual Basilio was severely wounded; he died 57 days later. |
Juan Francisco Martínez Honduras Los Encinos Dam On January 4, 2015, Juan Francisco Martínez’s body was found with multiple stab wounds to the chest, his hands tied with the laces of military boots. Martínez was a prominent member of an indigenous Lenca organisation, MILPAH, which has opposed the construction of a number of hydroelectric dams in central Honduras. |
| 2014 |
| Armando Caballero Toscano Colombia Hidrosogamoso Dam Armando Caballero Toscano was a young fisherman in the village of La Cascajera and the son of Eda Toscano, a prominent member of the Social Movement in Defense of Sogamoso, the community organization dedicated to fighting the construction of the Hidrosogamoso Dam on the Sogamoso River. On the evening of September 8, 2014, Toscano was attacked while walking to a friend’s house. He reached the house, but collapsed to the floor, injured from what would prove to be fatal stab wounds. |
| David Estuardo Pacay Maaz Guatemala Hidro Santa Rita Dam On August 15, 2014 Guatemala’s Ministry of Interior initiated a repressive operation against the Q’eqchi communities of Cobán, Chisec and Raxruha. The indigenous communities were peacefully defending their way of life and territory against the construction of the Santa Rita hydroelectric dam. Two children of the community, including David Estuardo Pacay Maaz, were shot and killed by assailants searching for an activist. In another incident, assailants opened fire on the community, hurting five and killing one young man. |
| Carlos Ical Guitz Pacay Guatemala Hidro Santa RitaCarlos Ical Guitz Pacay was one of the peaceful demonstrators killed while protesting the construction of the Santa Rita Hydroelectric Dam on August 15, 2014. |
| Victor Juc Maaz Guatemala Hidro Santa Rita Dam Victor Juc Maaz was one of the peaceful demonstrators killed while protesting the construction of the Santa Rita Hydroelectric Dam on August 15, 2014. |
| Sebastian Rax Caal Guatemala Hidro Santa Rita Dam Sebastian Rax Caal, 45, was one of the peaceful demonstrators killed while protesting the construction of the Santa Rita Hydroelectric Dam on August 15, 2014. |
| Oscar Chen Quej Guatemala Hidro Santa Rita Dam Oscar Chen Quej, 25, was one of the peaceful demonstrators killed while protesting the construction of the Santa Rita Hydroelectric Dam on August 15, 2014. |
| Luciano Can Cujub Guatemala Hidro Santa Rita Dam Luciano Can Cujub, 40, was one of the peaceful demonstrators killed while protesting the construction of the Santa Rita Hydroelectric Dam on August 15, 2014. |
| Antonio Esteban Cruz Mexico Cuamono Dam Antonio Esteban Cruz, leader of the Movimiento Independiente Obrero, Campesino, Urbano y Popular (MIOCUP) opposed the construction of a hydroelectric plant on the Apulco River. On June 4, 2014, he was shot multiple times. Just before his death, Cruz had formed the Encuentro Nacional Indígena y Campesino (Ficam) to defend territory from private companies that promote hydroelectricity, mining and gas pipelines. |
| William Jacobo Honduras Agua Zarca Dam On the night of May 24, 2014, community activist William Jacobo Rodríguez was murdered. He was killed in Rio Blanco, where the community and its indigenous council have been blocking the construction of the Agua Zarca Dam. |
| Pedro Peréz Honduras Las Minitas Dam On February 16, 2014, Pedro Pérez, a board member of the Lenca indigenous group CINPH, was shot multiple times for his opposition to Las Minitas Dam. He spent two days in a coma before dying on February 18, 2014. |
| Four Protestors Pakistan Diamer- Bhasha DamSince its inception, the Diamer- Bhasha Dam has been the cause of an ongoing violent boundary dispute between the people of Kohistan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the people of Diamer in Gilgit-Baltistan, two districts claiming to have administrative control over the site of the dam’s construction. In February 2014, four people were killed in a violent clash related to the dispute. The Pakistani government has still neglected to resolve the boundary conflict, which has been exacerbated by the dam’s advancing construction. |
| Justo Sorto Honduras Tigre Dam On January 21, 2014, Justo Sorto was found dead in Intibucá, Honduras. Justo Sorto, a member of COPINH, had spearheaded many projects, among them the struggle against the Tigre Dam, which was to be constructed on the border between Honduras and El Salvador. |
| Irene Meza Honduras Agua Zarca Dam A prominent Honduran activist for indigenous rights, Irene Meza was shot at close range in 2014, along with other movement leaders. The wounds may not have been fatal, but on the way to the hospital, armed men attacked the vehicle again and succeeded in killing her. |
| Fourteen Yemeni Activists Yemen The year 2014 saw a spike in deaths of environmental and land activists opposing hydropower dams, with at least 14 people killed in Yemen. Many of the conflicts occur because hydropower projects are approved without consulting local people. |
| 2013 |
| Robinson David Mazo Colombia Hidroituango Dam Robinson David Mazo attended several Rios Vivos protests against Hidroituango in Colombia. After receiving threats, he fled the area but was forced to return to support his mother and sister, whom he’d left behind. He received seven bullet wounds on November 30, 2013, just outside the northern town of Toledo of Antioquia at the site known as La Matanza. Locals noticed a truck and two motorcycles drive up the site before he was murdered. He was just 22 years old. |
| Tomás Garcia Honduras Agua Zarca Dam Tomás Garcia was a Lenca indigenous leader active on local and national indigenous councils, as well as the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH). On July 15, 2013, he was shot by the Honduran military, in broad daylight, while walking with his son and many other community members to continue the blockade of a hydroelectric project construction site that the community opposed. |
| Daniel Pedro Mateo Guatemala Canbalam Dam On April 16, 2013, the body of Qanjob’al community activist Daniel Pedro Mateo was found murdered in Santa Eulalia, Huehuetenango, Guatemala. He had been missing for 12 days and his body showed signs of torture. Daniel Pedro Mateo was a painter, teacher, a founder of Radio Snuq Jolom Konob, and a leader in the community resistance to mining and hydroelectric activities in Huehuetenango. |
| Onésimo Rodríguez Panamá Barro Blanco DamOn March 22, 2013, an indigenous Ngäbe protester, Onesimo Rodriguez, was viciously attacked after attending a rally against the controversial Barro Blanco hydroelectric dam. Rodriguez’s body was later found in nearby stream, bludgeoned and strangled to death. Plainclothes Panamanian police are alleged to have carried out the attack. |
| Carlos Hernandez Mendoza Guatemala Caparja DamMendoza was a human rights defender who worked to mobilize community protests to defend natural resources and the rights of indigenous communities. Mendoza was shot and killed on March 8, 2013 as he returned from a trip to Honduras. |
| Nelson Giraldo Colombia Hidroituango Dam Nelson Giraldo Posada, 31, was a leader of Rios Vivos Antioquia in Colombia. He and his family were forced to leave their land by Hidroituango project and were sheltering in the Coliseum at the University of Antioquia. A week after a court ruled that opponents of Hidroituango deserved protection, Nelson Giraldo was found on the bank of the River Cauca with bullet wounds in his chest and legs. He left behind his wife and two children. |
| 2012 |
| Fabiola Osorio Bernaldez Mexico Fabiola Osorio Bernáldez was a Mexcian environmentalist who fought against the construction of a dock in a mangrove swamp in the town of Pie de la Cuesta, in the tourist city of Acapulco. She was murdered on May 31, 2012. |
| Andres Francisco Miguel Guatemala Canbalam Dam On the evening of May 1, 2012, two uniformed security personnel from Hidralia Energia fired shots at three men, killing one and seriously injuring another before driving off in their company pick-up truck. The victims of the attack had been outspoken opponents of the installation of the dam in Santa Cruz Barillas. Andres Francisco Miguel, the fatal victim, formerly held a position as a local elected official and was considered a leader by his peers. |
| Santos Alberto Dominguez Benitez Honduras Presas Intibucá Dam Santos Alberto, 24, was an active member of COPINH who waged a relentless struggle against dams and the privatization of rivers. On May 1, 2012, the National Police entered his home and shot him in the head. |
| Jerónimo Rodíguez Tugrí Panamá Barro Blanco Dam During an anti-dam protest in February 2012, Jerónimo and two other protesters were killed when the government stormed a crowd of indigenous demonstrators who had shut down the Inter-American Highway. |
| Mauricio Méndez Panamá Barro Blanco Dam During an anti-dam protest in February 2012, Mauricio and two other protesters were killed when the government stormed a crowd of indigenous demonstrators who had shut down the Inter-American Highway. |
| Franklin Javilla and two other activists Panamá Barro Blanco Dam During an anti-dam protest in February 2012, Franklin and two other protesters were killed when the government stormed a crowd of indigenous demonstrators who had shut down the Inter-American Highway. |
| 2010 |
| Octavio Roblero Guatemala Various Union Fenosa ProjectsOctavio Roblero, a FRENA leader who had fought Union Fenosa in San Marcos, Guatemala, was murdered on Feburary 17, 2010. Several unknown assailants shot him at point blank range from a car. His death followed hot on the heels of three other murders of people who were fighting against the presence of Union Fenosa in Guatemala. He left behind a wife, two daughters and a son. |
| Two Protesters Pakistan Diamer-Bhasha DamIn February 2010, two protesters died and others were injured when police fired on protesters in Chilas, Pakistan who were angry at the way dam-affected people were being treated. They were demanding a share of the royalties generated by the Diamer-Bhasha Dam and an increase in the compensation awarded to them. |
| Evelina Ramirez Reyes Guatemala Various Union Fenosa ProjectsThe Panamanian company Union Fenosa has been accused of human rights violations in Guatemala for years. In 2010, four campesinos were ambushed after they’d submitted a petition against the company in the capital. Evelina Ramírez Reyes was shot and killed in the attack, leaving a five-year-old child behind. Leader Freddy Rhodes disappeared, and Leonel de León and Jorge Lorenzo were injured. |
| Carlos Zamorra Mexico Cerro de Oro Dam Carlos Zamorra, 17, was shot dead in Uxpanapa in 2010. Zamorra was the son of Juan Pablo Zamorra Bonilla, leader of the Consejo Indígena de Uxpanapa, a group that fights for the rights of Chinantecos evicted by the construction of the Cerro de Oro Dam. The Zamorra family had received numerous death threats from a group of farmers and landowners. |
| 2009 |
| Victor Galvez Guatemala Various Union Fenosa ProjectsOn October 24, 2009, Victor Galvez was riddled with 32 bullets as he left his office. Galvez helped people affected by DEOCSA, one of the two subsidiaries of Union Fenosa. After Galvez’s murder, seven more prominent social leaders in the struggle for the expulsion of the multinational Union Fenosa were killed, four of them in March 2010. |
| Honorio Llorente Merendez Colombia Hidrosogamoso Dam As the president of the Community Action Board of the village Puente Sogamoso, Merendez actively protested Hidrosogamoso and other large hydro projects that threatened the Magdalena River system. On the evening of October 17, 2009, witnesses say he was murdered by a gunman who entered his home, shot him, and then fled while escorted by two motorcycles. |
| 36 Burmese Soldiers & Unknown Number of Kokang People Burma Kunlong Dam (and others)Dams are often built under military occupation in Burma. Once the army has occupied their area, affected people are pressed into forced labor or forcibly displaced. Human rights organizations have documented widespread intimidation, rape and murder under military occupation, and the Burmese army has occupied border regions to tighten control over ethnic minorities. In August 2009, the army invaded the Kokang Territory. Clashes with the local army claimed the lives of at least 36 government soldiers and an unknown number of Kokang. |
| Raimundo Nonato do Carmo Brazil Tucuruí DamRaimundinho was a fearless leader who fought tirelessly for environmental protection in the region flooded and destroyed by Tucuruí Dam. He was shot seven times on April 16, 2009 by two men on a motorcycle. |
| Manuel Ponce Rosas Mexico On February 13, 2009, Raúl Lucas Lucía and Manuel Ponce Rosas were forcibly abducted by armed men. On February 22, their dead bodies were discovered in the municipality of Tecoanapa. Their bodies showed clear signs of torture. Both were leaders of the indigenous Organización para el Futuro del Pueblo Mixtecto (OFPM). |
| Raúl Lucas Lucía Mexico On February 13, 2009, Raúl Lucas Lucía and Manuel Ponce Rosas were forcibly abducted by armed men. On February 22, their dead bodies were discovered in the municipality of Tecoanapa. Their bodies showed clear signs of torture. Both were leaders of the indigenous Organización para el Futuro del Pueblo Mixtecto (OFPM). |
| 2008 |
| Community Activist Ecuador Baba DamThe Baba Dam in Ecuador came under criticism in 2008. Some community members who spoke out against the dam received anonymous death threats, and some faced criminal charges without evidence. One community organizer who spoke out against the dam was murdered, and his body was found dumped at the Baba Multipurpose Hydroelectric Project dam site. |
| 2007 |
| Benito Cruz Jacinto Mexico La Parota DamBenito Cruz Jacinto was murdered in 2007 for his opposition to the construction of the La Parota Dam in the state of Guerrero, one of the states with the highest poverty rates in the country. |
| Four Nubian Activists Sudan Kajbar DamIn 2007, Sudanese security forces killed four and injured at least 20 people who protested peacefully against the proposed Kajbar Dam. The UN Special Rapporteur on Sudan deplored the excessive force used against the Nubian population. The Kajbar Dam would flood what little remains of the homeland of ethnic minority Nubians. |
| 2006 |
| Three Protesters Sudan Merowe DamIn April 2006, three protesters against the Merowe Dam were killed in a small Sudanese town called Amri. |
| Eduardo Maya Manrique Mexico La Parota Dam While campaigning against La Parota Dam on the Papagayo River in the state of Guerrero, Eduardo Maya Manrique was stoned to death in the January of 2006. |
| 2005 |
| Tomás Cruz Zamora Mexico La ParotaTomás Cruz Zamora was among the community leaders resisting La Parota Dam when he was killed with a single shot to the head as he returned from an organizing meeting. The dam on Mexico’s Papagayo River would have flooded nearly 17,000 hectares of land and displaced more than 25,000 people. The dam was ultimately stopped. |
| Sister Dorothy Stang Brazil An American nun who became a naturalized Brazilian citizen, Dorothy was murdered on February 12, 2005 in Brazil for her efforts on behalf of the poor and the environment. Before her murder, she had received death threats from loggers and land owners. |
| Jaime Bracamonte Arias Mexico El Cajón Dam Lawyer Jaime Bracamontes Arias, who legally advised the resistance movement of the people affected by the construction of El Cajón Dam, was shot and killed in 2005. The movement had received numerous death threats over the years prior to his murder. |
| 2002 |
| Gilzan Teixeira Lima Brazil Belo Monte Dam Gilzan Teixeira Lima was one of the leaders of the Brasilia Settlement Project. He was fighting the construction of the Belo Monte Dam project, near Altamira on the Xingu River. His wife, the president of the settlements association, constantly received death threats for speaking up for settler rights and against forest destruction. Due to his public condemnation of the threats against his wife, he was assassinated in August 2002. To date, no one has been convicted. |
| Fredy Cornelia Benítez Honduras Babilonia Hydroelectric ProjectThe parish priest of Gualaco and coordinator of the local forest forum in the zone, Fredy Cornelio Benítez was stabbed in the back in March 2002, as a consequence of his opposition to the progress of the Babilonia dam project. |
| 2001 |
| Carlos Flores Honduras Babilonia Hydroelectric ProjectOn June 30, 2001, armed guards of the private Honduran hydroelectric company Energisa murdered a Honduran peasant farmer named Carlos Flores for opposing the Babilonia Hydroelectric Project. Energisa had been awarded a 30-year environmental license to construct the $4 million 4.4 MW Babilonia Hydroelectric Project, located in the Sierra de Agalta National Park. |
| Kimy Pernía Domicó Colombia Urrá 1 Dam Kimy Pernía Domicó was a spokesman for Colombia’s indigenous Embera people, whose land was threatened by Urrá 1 Dam. He spoke to international audiences about the harassment the Embera suffered at the hands of the Colombian government, the Urrá Dam company, paramilitaries and guerrillas. On June 2, 2001, he was forced onto a motorcycle at gunpoint by unidentified men and driven out of town. He was never heard from again. In 2007, a former paramilitary member admitted to participating in Pernia’s disappearance and murder. |
| 1990’s |
| Lei Weidong China Three Gorges DamIn March of 1999, Lei Weidong was murdered for his opposition to the Three Gorges Dam. Before his death, he had taken two trips to Beijing to protest the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people by the dam’s reservoir. |
| Fulgêncio Manoel da Silva Brazil Itaparica DamDa Silva was one of 40,000 people forced to make way for the Itaparica Dam in Brazil. He was murdered on October 16, 1997; it’s suspected that drug traffickers operating in the resettlement communities ordered his killing. Da Silva was a farmer, a poet, and a passionate fighter for dam-affected people. |
| 1980’s |
| 440 Maya Achì Men, Women and Children Guatemala Chixoy Dam Between 1980 and 1982, some 440 people, mostly women and children, were brutally murdered in a series of massacres when they resisted eviction from their village of Río Negro to make way for the Chixoy Reservoir. |