2017年因保护土地和环保活动死亡人数达200多名

Report Says More Than 200 Land Activists¹ Killed Last Year

A new report says killings² of land and environmental activists rose in 2017.

The environmental and human rights group Global Witness reports that Mexico and the Philippines registered sharp increases in such murders last year. And it says Brazil had the most ever registered killings of activists in a single country.

Global Witness said at least 207 people protecting land and resources from business interests were killed last year. This was up from 201 killed in 2016, it noted³. That makes 2017 the deadliest year since the group began recording⁴ deaths of land and environmental activists in 2015.

Global Witness said that the numbers were probably higher because of the difficulties of identifying and confirming such killings.

Consumer demand has often pressured agricultural businesses to expand production of crops like coffee, palm oil, and sugar cane⁵. For the first time, more activists were killed in conflicts with agribusiness instead of mining, Global Witness said.

Ben Leather prepared the report for the group. He told the Associated Press that the rising number of killings is clear evidence that governments and businesses are not serious about solving the problem.

Leather added that having more deadly conflicts tied to agriculture "should serve as a wake-up call to those businesses and to those investing in large-scale agriculture that they need to be better, too, and ensure that their money isn't funding this violence.”

The struggle to control the Amazon's natural resources often leads to conflict in Brazil. It remained the deadliest country for land activists, with 57 people killed last year. This is the highest number in a single year in any country since Global Witness began counting.

But there were also surprising increases in other countries. The Philippines had 48 land activists killed. That is the most ever for any Asian country and represents a 70 percent jump from 2016 levels. In Mexico, the number rose from three to 15. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, 13 people were killed. Twelve of them were park rangers⁷ protecting wildlife.

The deadliest country in Asia for activists

In the Philippines, 20 killings were linked to conflicts with agricultural businesses, and there were signs of military involvement. The Global Witness report linked the deaths to President Rodrigo Duterte's campaign to expand industrial agriculture, especially on the island of Mindanao. Eight of those killed were reported to be ethnic⁸ Taboli-manubo people. They were resisting expansion of a coffee farm.

A Philippine military commander, Benjamin Madrigal⁹, said the armed forces does not support extrajudicial killings – attacks carried out in violation¹⁰ of the law. He said soldiers are needed to enforce environmental laws and ensure that companies work with rural communities.

President Duterte has said he is ready to stand up to large businesses even if the government loses money.

Getting away with murder

In Mexico, murders rose to their highest number since observers began keeping records in 1997. Global Witness linked the rise to organized crime and the government’s failure to punish criminals.

Ben Leather said that as time passes, those responsible for the crimes feel they, “have more and more evidence that they're simply going to get away with murder.”

Leather urged Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to make fighting crime a goal of his administration. The new president takes office on December 1.

Rodrigo Santiago Juarez is a member of the Mexican government's National Human Rights Commission. He says he agrees with the report's main findings. Many activists in Mexico face not only "attacks, threats, killings and disappearances," but also public discrimination for their work, he said.

Santiago said the Commission has campaigned to support the work of civil society. He said that since 2012, the government has operated what is known as “the mechanism¹¹” -- a program that provides protective measures, such as home security systems. In addition, guards were deployed¹² to protect about 400 activists and 300 media workers.

Santiago said these services will help many people, "But we also know that the mechanism ... on its own cannot solve everything. The best way to resolve this situation is, first, punishing the attackers."

Removing protections

The Global Witness report also criticized the administration of Brazilian President Michel Temer. It accused his administration of reducing environmental protections and financial support for groups that protect rights of native people and small land owners.

Native groups say these actions have led to farmers, businesses and other outsiders seizing their land.

In a statement late Tuesday, Temer's office called the report’s criticism "fake news." It also noted that some of the killings in the report were related to drug-trafficking disputes, and Temer had worked to defend the environment.

I’m Phil Dierking. And I'm Dorothy Gundy.

Words in This Story

consumer - n. a person who buys goods and services?

fake - adj. not true or real?

funding - n. available money?

park - n. a piece of public land in or near a city that is kept free of houses and other buildings and can be used for pleasure and exercise?

ranger⁶ - n. a person in charge of managing and protecting part of a public forest?

resource - n. something that a country has and can use to increase its wealth?

mechanism - n. a process or system that is used to produce a particular result

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

5 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。

6 ranger   

n.国家公园管理员，护林员；骑兵巡逻队员

参考例句：

• He was the head ranger of the national park.他曾是国家公园的首席看守员。
• He loved working as a ranger.他喜欢做护林人。

7 rangers   

护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员

参考例句：

• Do you know where the Rangers Stadium is? 你知道Rangers体育场在哪吗？ 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Now I'm a Rangers' fan, so I like to be near the stadium. 现在我是Rangers的爱好者，所以我想离体育场近一点。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

8 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

9 madrigal   

n.牧歌；（流行于16和17世纪无乐器伴奏的）合唱歌曲

参考例句：

• You look like a melodious madrigal,beautiful snowy mountain,beautiful prairie.你象一只悠扬的牧歌，美了雪山，美了草原。
• The madrigal that writes to you still sings.写给你的情歌还在唱。

10 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

11 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

12 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。