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Raphael Blet

On Tuesday, NGO Global Witness released a report documenting the killing of 207 environmental and land rights activists worldwide in 2017. While South America was the most dangerous continent, with 57 killings recorded in Brazil alone last year, Asia was not far behind. In the Philippines there were 48 deaths.
Such deaths are not new. We look back at five of the most egregious cases in Asia in recent years.

Chut Wutty, aged 40, Cambodia, 2012
Chut Wutty founded and managed the National Resource Protection Group (NRPG), an association that investigated illegal logging in Cambodia. In 2003 Chut Wutty was named deputy director of Global Witness, an international cooperative investigating and reporting on illegal smuggling of natural resources worldwide; in Cambodia, it looked into the role senior government officials played in the smuggling of timber.
Why did this artist carve SOS into an Indonesian palm oil farm?
Chut Wutty was shot dead in 2012, when accompanying a group of journalists from The Cambodia Daily, a national English newspaper which conducted extensive investigations of the illegal timber trade in the country’s Koh Kong province. An official report said Chut Wutty had been killed by a military police officer who was himself killed by a ricocheting bullet. Doubts about the circumstances of his death remain.
In 2014, then-US President Barack Obama praised Chut Wutty’s achievements and courage. In 2015, a documentary film, I am Chut Wutty, was released by a fellow environmental activist, Fran Lambrick. The film was banned by the Cambodian authorities.

Indra Pelani, 22, Indonesia, 2015
Indra Pelani was a young Indonesian rice farmer from Lubuk Mandarsah in Jambi province, eastern Sumatra. He spoke up for the rights of tenant farmers, whose livelihoods were threatened when multinational companies started acquiring land from local landlords.
On his way to a rice harvest festival Pelani and a friend were confronted by security guards from Asia Pulp & Paper, a Chinese-Indonesian company producing paper products ranging from stationery to tissue in the heavily forested region. Pelani’s friend went to seek help, but the following day the activist was found dead, his hands and feet bound.
Philippines is now Asia’s deadliest country for land rights activists
Pelani’s death drew international attention – 25 NGOs, including Greenpeace, called for the local government and the company to render justice to Pelani’s family. Greenpeace suspended its work with the company on corporate social responsibility. Asia Pulp & Paper later offered an apology for Pelani’s killing.

Bill Kayong, 43, Malaysia, 2016
Bill Kayong was a Malaysian environmentalist and social advocate. Kayong fought for the preservation of native forest land and spoke out about the environmental impact of oil palm cultivation in the Malaysian state of Sarawak in northwest Borneo, where rainforest was being cleared for oil palm plantations.
Kayong was shot dead in his car while stopped at a traffic light in Jalan Miri-Bintulu, a small town in Sarawak. A businessman with close links to oil companies, and two others, were charged in connection with his death, but later released due to a lack of evidence; another man is still on trial.

Ruben Arzaga, 49, Philippines, 2017
Ruben Arzaga was a village chief near El Nido in Palawan province, Philippines. Captain Ruben – as he was known locally – was the chairman of the El Nido Law Enforcement Council and a member of the management board of the El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area, a committee in charge of protecting the Unesco-listed area.
The father-of-five often took part in patrols against illegal logging. In September last year, Arzaga was shot dead. Two suspects were arrested and charged with his death, which caused a furore in the area and made national headlines. The country’s environment ministry granted his children free education and the local government gave his family PhP200,000 (US$3,750).

Saw O Moo, 43, Myanmar, 2018
Saw O Moo was part of the Karen ethnic minority in Karen state, Myanmar. A member of the Karen Environmental and Social Action network, Moo was fighting for the preservation of the region’s forests and advocating the building of a “peace park”.
Palm oil is cheap but it’s also an eco-disaster
He was shot dead by soldiers who accused him of being a member of the Karen National Liberation Army, an armed group seeking autonomy for the Karen.


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Environment

Five  Asian environmental activists killed for defending land and natural resources against exploitation

A giant SOS is carved into an oil palm plantation in Sumatra by Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic to draw attention to the damage caused by deforestation to the wildlife and indigenous people of Indonesia. Photo: Reuters

Handout image shows Saw O Moo who was a member of the Karen people community, a minority group living in Karen state, Myanmar. Member of the Karen Environmental and Social Action network, Moo was fighting for the preservation of the region’s forest. He was also advocating for the building of a “peace park”, in a country turmoiled by ethno-religious conflicts. [25JULY2018 FEATURES]

***ONE TIME USE ONLY*** Bill Kayong ran in a Sarawak state assembly election last month.

epa03197671 An undated handout photo made available on 27 April 2012 by the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) shows Chut Wutty, Director of the Natural Resource Protection Group, in action in a forest in Cambodia. Wutty, a prominent environmental activist who was well-known for speaking out against illegal logging in Cambodia’s forests was shot dead on 27 April 2012, according to local media reports. EPA/CCHR HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

Handout image shows Indra Pelani who was a young Indonesian rice farmer from Lubuk Mandarsah in Jambi Province, East of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Besides being a farmer, Pelani was also an advocate of tenant farming, a practice in which farmers would usually operate a land rented out to a local owner. In recent years, multinationals started taking over many of these plots of land, leaving farmers with little or no autonomy. [25JULY2018 FEATURES]

This photo taken on February 23, 2017, shows environmental para-enforcer Ruben Arzaga, from the Palawan NGO Network Inc (PNNI), standing in a forest on Palawan island in the Philippines while on a break during a hunt for illegal loggers. Arzaga was shot dead on a similar mission in September 2017. The PNNI team members confiscate chainsaws and other equipment used to destroy Palawan's environment, but the Philippines is one the most dangerous countries in the world to be an environmental activist and 12 of the group's para-enforcers have been killed since 2001. Environmental activists are being killed in record numbers around the world, with the corruption-plagued Philippines one of the most dangerous countries, according to watchdog Global Witness. / AFP PHOTO / KARL MALAKUNAS / TO GO WITH AFP STORY: Philippines-environment-crime-tourism-Palawan-Arzaga, FEATURE by Karl MALAKUNAS

A record 207 environmental activists were killed in 2017

File photo of a picture of Berta Caceres, a Lenca Indian activist who won the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize for her role in fighting a dam project. She was shot dead by two men on March 3. Photo: AP

Brazilian President Michel Temer delivers a speech during the inauguration ceremony of his new Labour Minister Caio Vieira de Mello at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia on July 10, 2018. Vieira de Melo replaces Helton Yomura, who resigned after being accused of corruption. / AFP PHOTO / EVARISTO SA

FILE - In this June 10, 2006, file photo, a man arranges mock coffins symbolizing the number of their companions killed or abducted, allegedly by the military, at a rally marking the 18th anniversary of government land reform in suburban Quezon City, Philippines. The protesters called the government's land reform a farce and demanded justice for the victims of human rights violations as killings of left-leaning activists continued. Global Witness said Tuesday, July 24, 2018 that at least 207 people who were protecting land and resources from business interests were slain last year. (AP Photo/Pat Roque, File)

Lifestyle

In the week NGO Global Witness reported the killing of 207 environmental defenders worldwide in 2017, we look at five of the most shocking recent cases in East Asia


In the week NGO Global Witness reported the killing of 207 environmental defenders worldwide in 2017, we look at five of the most shocking recent cases in East Asia.


Human rights

Five Asian environmental activists killed for defending land and natural resources against exploitation

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}In the week NGO Global Witness reported the killing of 207 environmental defenders worldwide in 2017, we look at five of the most shocking recent cases in East Asia

In the week NGO Global Witness reported the killing of 207 environmental defenders worldwide in 2017, we look at five of the most shocking recent cases in East Asia