Some of the images in this video, including the landscapes, were generated by AI technology. The Escazu agreement is designed to protect biodiversity and environmental defenders in Latin America and the Caribbean. The treaty, adopted in 2018 in Costa Rica, guarantees people’s right to obtain environmental information and to participate in decision-making that affects their lives and environment. It requires countries to ensure access to justice when those rights are violated, and to establish systems to prevent environmental harm or provide redress. It is the world’s first legally binding instrument containing specific provisions on environmental defenders – requiring governments to provide safe and enabling conditions for the defenders and ensuring that those responsible for violence and intimidation against them are investigated and prosecuted. Upholding the rights established in the Escazú agreement could contribute hugely to reversing the cycle of violence and environmental destruction in the Amazon, Human Rights Watch said.       

The acts of violence and vandalism that took place in Brazil on January 8, 2023, constitute an abhorrent attack on Brazil’s democratic institutions. HRW’s César Muñoz leads a conversation with Maria Laura Canineu and Brian Winter to discuss the human rights implications.

Brazil’s President-Elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva should prioritize the protection of human rights and reverse the serious setbacks during the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro. HRW’s Cesar Munoz moderates this discussion with HRW’s acting Executive Director Tirana Hassan and law professor and columnist Conrado Hubner on how

As Brazilians head to the polls, HRW discusses tactics of fear, intimidation, or misinformation targeting voters in Brazil, as well as in the US state of Georgia ahead of the 2022 United States midterms. HRW's Amanda Klasing moderates this conversation with Aklima Khondoker, Chief Legal Officer of the New Georgia Project

Which country really needs better forest commitments?

President Violates Free Speech, Access to Information Rights

Overview of illegal mining areas and deforestation around the Tapajós River, Pará State, Brazil, accessed via https://mineria.amazoniasocioambiental.org/ on November 11, 2020.

Satellite image recorded on October 12, 2020 shows mining sites and deforested areas along along tributaries of the Tapajós River in the Tapajós Environmental Protection Area (APA Tapajós), Pará State, Brazil.

Fires resulting from unchecked deforestation are poisoning the air millions of people breathe, affecting health throughout the Brazilian Amazon, the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM), the Institute for Health Policy Studies(IEPS), and Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Fires and deforestation in the Amazon increased dramatically during 2019, President Jair Bolsonaro’s first year in office, and 2020 is already proving to be worse, the groups found. 

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon is driven largely by criminal networks that use violence and intimidation against those who try to stop them, and the government is failing to protect both the defenders and the rainforest itself.