Brazil land defender killings, disappearances double: NGO

The number of environmental and land activists murdered or disappeared in Brazil in 2025 more than doubled to 26, the advocacy group Global Witness said Tuesday.

Global Witness said Brazil was the world's second-most dangerous country for environmental defenders after Colombia, where it recorded 39 activist murders last year. The two Amazonian countries accounted for 52 percent of the 124 murders of environmental defenders recorded worldwide in 2025, down from 146 in 2024, the group said.

Honduras and the Philippines were tied as the third deadliest countries, with 12 murders each, followed by Mexico with 10, according to Global Witness. The group said land disputes were believed to have triggered more than half of the killings, and 85 percent of the murders took place in Latin America.

Carlos Lima of Brazil's Pastoral Land Commission, which defends the rights of small-scale farmers and Indigenous people, told AFP there was "almost a license to kill" land activists in Brazil.

Global Witness said Colombia was ranked the most violent country for activists for the fourth straight year. It said more than one third of activist killings worldwide were linked to organized crime or hitmen.