When Indigenous defenders are criminalized and subjected to violence, the objective is not justice. The objective is silence, intimidation, collective punishment, and dispossession. Criminalization and violence are designed to wear down Indigenous defenders and communities quietly until resistance becomes too costly to sustain. The most worrying thing? This is getting worse.
This report shows how, in 2025, IPRI served as a shield and a bridge for Indigenous defenders and communities facing criminalization, violence, human rights violations with impunity, and systemic exclusion—connecting urgent on-the ground protection with the long-term defense of Indigenous Peoples’ rights in international and regional human rights systems
