Indonesia,138 Thailand,139 Malaysia,140 the Philippines,141 and Sri Lanka,142
land rights activists including farmers and Indigenous communities face
brutal, often militarized land-grabs and harmful legislation.143
IN BANGLADESH’S CHITTAGONG HILL TRACTS,
INDIGENOUS WOMEN ACTIVISTS AND LAND
DEFENDERS HAVE BEEN FACING VIOLENT
MILITARIZED LAND-GRABS FOR DECADES.
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE ARE ASSAULTED, SURVEILLED
AND KILLED WITH IMPUNITY, AND THERE ARE
HIGH INCIDENCES OF RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT
AGAINST INDIGENOUS WOMEN AND GIRLS.
Generally, land defenders are facing unprecedented levels of violence. In
Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill tracts, Indigenous women activists and land
defenders have been facing violent militarized land-grabs for decades.
Indigenous people are assaulted, surveilled and killed with impunity, and
there are high incidences of rape and sexual assault against Indigenous
women and girls.144
Land rights activists are punished by laws that are sustained through
narratives portraying them as an obstacle to the national development
of the economy through the privatization of land. In India, the Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) is frequently used to label land rights
activists as terrorists, leading to prolonged detention without trial,
effectively stifling dissent and resistance against corporate land grabs.145
Similarly, in the Philippines, the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 has been
criticized for its broad and vague definitions, which are used to target
138
Indigenous Women Fighting to Save Land and Livelihoods in Indonesia. (n.d.). CMI Consortium. https://cmiconsortium.org/indigenous-women-fighting-to-save-land-and-livelihoods-in-indonesia/
139
People’s Dispatch. (2022). Land Rights Activists in Thailand Face Prosecution for Sit-In Protest in Bangkok. People’s Dispatch, 16 February. https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/02/16/land-rights-activists-in-thailand-face-prosecution-forsit-in-protest-in-bangkok/
140
Benar News. (2017). Malaysia’s Orang Asli Protest Against Land Seizures. https://www.benarnewst.org/english/
news/malaysian/malaysia-natives-09012017182358.html
141
Human Rights Watch (2023). Philippines: Officials ‘Red-Tagging’ Indigenous Leaders, Activists, Human Rights
Watch. https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/01/26/philippines-officials-red-tagging-indigenous-leaders-activists
142
Human Rights Watch. (2023). If We Raise Our Voice They Arrest Us: Sri Lanka’s Proposed Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/report/2023/09/18/if-we-raise-our-voice-they-arrest-us/
sri-lankas-proposed-truth-and-reconciliation
143
Dalpino, C. (2023). The Police Are Watching: In Mekong Countries, Eco-Defenders Face Rising Risks. Mongabay.
https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/the-police-are-watching-in-mekong-countries-eco-defenders-face-rising-riskshttps://
news.mongabay.com/2023/12/the-police-are-watching-in-mekong-countries-eco-defenders144
Asia Indigenous People’s Pact. (2021). Fact Sheet: Violence Against Indigenous Women and Girls in Bangladesh.
https://aippnet.org/fact-sheet-violence-against-indigenous-women-girls-bangladesh/
145
The Wire. (2022). 97% of UAPA Cases Between 2016 and 2020 Are Still Pending Trial, Says Home Ministry in Rajya
Sabha, The Wire, 20 July. https://thewire.in/government/uapa-case-data-process-punishment-home-ministry-rajya-sabha
43