Isídio Antonio was one of the latest victims in Brazil's Amazon, which saw unprecedented levels of violence in 2015 with 50 killings. Isídio had suffered years of assassination attempts and death threats for defending his land against a small group of powerful landowners who attempted to seize it for valuable timber, or to make way for ranches and plantations.



His appeals to the authorities for protection were consistently ignored, and police have never investigated his murder. Locals say he is the fourth victim in his small community in Maranhão state.

Globally, collusion between state and corporate interests shield many of those responsible for the killings. In cases that are well documented we found 16 were related to paramilitary groups, 13 to the army, 11 to the police and 11 to private security – strongly implying state or company links to the killings. There was little evidence that the authorities either fully investigated the crimes, or took actions to bring the perpetrators to account.

While impunity prevails, the criminalisation of protest is on the rise. Most notably in Africa, governments and powerful business interests are using their influence to marginalise land and environmental activists and turn public opinion against them, branding their actions as ‘anti-development’.