How states use criminalisation to target land and environmental defenders
Publisher: Global Witness
Author(s): Molly Robson, Evie Calder
Date: 2025
Topics: Attacks on Defenders, Governance
This blog examines how governments around the world are increasingly using new and existing laws to criminalize land and environmental defenders, particularly those engaged in non-violent protest. Using global examples, it documents patterns of heavy policing, harsh sentencing, and the misuse of public order, national security, and anti-terrorism laws to silence dissent.