Brazil: Criminal Networks Target Rainforest Defenders

Expand A forest fire rages in Santo Antonio do Matupi, southern Amazonas state, Brazil, August 27, 2019. © 2019 Associated Press (São Paulo) – 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, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The 165-page report, “Rainforest Mafias: How Violence and Impunity Fuel Deforestation in the Brazili’s Amazon,” documents how illegal logging by criminal networks and…

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