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On a certain day last November, the Indigenous leader Julia Chuñil summoned her dog, her loyal pet, and ventured into the forest near her home to look for lost farm animals. The animals came back but Chuñil, then aged 72, and her dog did not.

More than 100 people joined her relatives in a search lasting weeks in the rugged, rain-soaked and thickly vegetated terrain of the nation of Chile’s ancient Valdivian woodland. After a month, they monitored vultures for any disturbing signs. But they discovered no evidence of Chuñil.

Julia Chuñil is among 146 territorial and ecological activists who were killed or disappeared around the world last year, according to a report by the advocacy organization Global Witness. Roughly one-third of those, like her, were from Indigenous communities – a significant toll for peoples who collectively make up only six percent of the global inhabitants.

The activist, a leader of the Mapuche Indigenous community in Chile, was living on contested land. A decade earlier she had moved on to a protected forest area, a 2,200-acre portion of the age-old Valdivian ecosystem 800 kilometers below the capital, which her community asserted as an historical homeland.

She spent years campaigning to secure land rights over the location for her community. But the site’s nominal owner, the heir of settlers, refused to relinquish ownership. He wanted the site for timber extraction – Chile is a major exporter of wood to the US – and he sought to remove the activist. Prior to her disappearance, Julia told allies: “Should harm come to me, it will be clear who did it.”

Global Documentation on Attacks Against Defenders

Global Witness started documenting incidents of killings and disappearances of land and environmental protectors in 2012. Since then, it has gathered a total of two thousand two hundred fifty-three cases. For the past decade, the most dangerous place has been Central and South America. Last year it represented eighty-two percent of reported incidents, which involved forty-five Indigenous people.

“Territorial disputes lies at the core of violence against activists, and Indigenous peoples are paying the highest price,” stated a senior policy adviser at Global Witness. “Communities with historical ties to territory often lead the resistance when their lands are endangered from resource extraction and invasion. However, regardless of their critical function, they are often denied recognition and justice, and exposed to grave danger for defending their legitimate lands.”

Nation-Specific Statistics and Under-reporting

Chuñil’s was the only incident recorded in her nation last year, even though it matched a pattern of the targeting of Mapuche advocates in Chile. The nation of Colombia recorded 48 instances, making it the deadliest nation overall for environmental defenders, then came Guatemala with 20 cases, the most dangerous nation per capita. The country of Mexico had nineteen cases, putting it in number three overall.

Under-reporting remains an issue, particularly in Asia and Africa, which recorded sixteen and nine cases each, the monitor said. In general, last year the lowest number of cases of killings and disappearances of land activists were registered in ten years.

Laura Furones, who led the investigation for Global Witness, said: “It would be gratifying to report that this suggests a decrease in hostilities and an improvement in the conditions for defenders, but unfortunately that’s not the case. Rights advocates face realities of violence that extend well past murder. What violence often does is transform, become more sophisticated, alter its appearance.”

Ongoing Fight for Accountability

Julia’s relatives have persisted in seeking legal resolution but their advocacy has exposed them to intimidation and intimidation, as well. During April, a pair of creatures from her property that they had intended to sell to finance court expenses were found killed, one murdered by gunfire and one poisoned. “This is primarily, a deliberate effort to block us from pursuing this case,” her child a family member informed the watchdog.

Their analysis calls on authorities to act to end the impunity of the perpetrators of environmental defenders by tackling the lack of legal entitlements defenders have over property, strengthening weak national legal systems, and ensuring defenders at risk are given sufficient state protection.

“Our sole request is a comprehensive, impartial investigation to take place,” San Martín remarked of his mother’s situation. “Nearly twelve months have passed since she disappeared and we’re still in the dark about what happened. Our demand is those behind this to be discovered and charged.”