India among most dangerous places for activists

India, Cambodia and the Philippines are among the most dangerous places in the world for human rights and labour activists with protests against corporate abuses often met with state-backed violence, according to a new report.

Brazil topped the list of the most dangerous countries with 63 recorded attacks against activists in 2022, followed by India and Mexico with 54 and 44 attacks, respectively, according to the report released on Wednesday by the UK-based Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.

Cambodia had 40 recorded attacks, followed by the Philippines and Honduras with 32 and 31 attacks, respectively, the report said.

Belarus, Peru, Colombia and Uganda were the next most dangerous countries with between 17 and 28 attacks each.

The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre said 75 percent of the more than 550 attacks recorded worldwide were linked to people protecting land, climate or environmental rights, and one-fifth of the attacks were against Indigenous activists.

Mining was the most dangerous industry, linked to 165, or 30 percent, of the attacks.

While the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre said it was difficult to identify the perpetrators of the attacks, it was able to link 235 incidents, or 43 percent of cases, to a multinational company or their subsidiaries.

India, which is set to host the G20 summit in September, had the greatest number of companies linked to attacks, in which a firm could be identified.

The companies included JSW Steel, one of India’s top steel and coal manufacturers, whose plans to construct a steel plant in the eastern state of Odisha have been opposed by residents since 2018.

Activists said the project poses a threat to the area’s environment and residents’ health and threatens to displace traditional industries like betel vine farming.