#NoLandNoLife Features | Repression For Land And Profits

Over the past five years, at least two people from rural communities have been killed weekly in the struggles against land grabs, based on PANAP estimates. More than eight are arrested and detained weekly, and more than two are harassed or assaulted.

Under its No Land, No Life! campaign, PANAP has been monitoring cases of human rights violations (HRVs) against farmers, farm workers, indigenous people, and land activists. From January 2017 to the latest available data (as of Oct 20, 2022), we have monitored 417 cases of killings that resulted in 610 deaths. Of the victims, 238 or 39%, were farmers.

During the same period, we monitored 260 cases of arrests and detention, with around 2,565 victims, of which farmers comprised 1,159 or 45% of the sum. For threats, harassment, and assault, PANAP has monitored 127 cases with 719 victims, of whom 434 or 60% were farmers.

More alarming is that, as these particular cases of political repression against peasants show, state forces are often involved. Of the land conflict-related human rights abuses where reports or accounts identified the perpetrators, the police, military, and state-sanctioned paramilitary groups were implicated in 133 cases of killings, 258 cases of arrests and detention, and 49 cases of threats, harassment, and assault.

Peasant repression in the context of land conflicts and struggles is a global phenomenon that intensifies amid the worsening crises of the world economy and politics, hunger and food insecurity, and climate and environment.

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