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On a certain day last November, Julia Chuñil summoned her dog, her loyal pet, and they set off into the woods near her residence to search for missing farm animals. The animals came back but Julia, then aged 72, and Cholito did not.

More than a hundred individuals joined her relatives in a hunt lasting multiple weeks in the steep, rain-soaked and densely overgrown terrain of Chile’s pristine Valdivian woodland. A month later, they monitored scavenger birds for any disturbing clues. But they discovered no evidence of Chuñil.

Chuñil is among 146 land and environmental activists who were murdered or went missing globally last year, according to a study by the advocacy organization the monitoring entity. Roughly one-third of these cases, similar to her, were from native groups – a significant toll for populations who together constitute just 6% of the global population.

The activist, a leader of the Mapuche Indigenous community in Chile, was residing in disputed land. A decade earlier she had settled in a protected forest area, a 2,200-acre portion of the ancient Valdivian ecosystem 800 kilometers below the capital, which her community asserted as an historical territory.

She spent years campaigning to obtain property titles for the location for her community. But the legal proprietor of the land, the descendant of settlers, refused to relinquish control. His intention was the site for timber extraction – the country serves as a significant exporter of wood to the United States – and he sought to remove Chuñil. Prior to her disappearance, Chuñil informed supporters: “If anything happens to me, it will be clear who is responsible.”

International Documentation on Violence Against Activists

Global Witness began recording incidents of killings and disappearances of territorial and ecological protectors in 2012. Since then, it has gathered a overall count of 2,253 instances. For the past decade, the most dangerous region has been Central and South America. Last year it represented 82% of cases, which involved forty-five native individuals.

“Land conflict is at the heart of aggression against activists, and Indigenous peoples are bearing the greatest cost,” said an expert at Global Witness. “Populations with ancestral connections to territory often form the frontline of resistance when their lands are endangered from resource extraction and invasion. But despite their critical role, they are often denied recognition and legal redress, and exposed to grave risk for protecting their rightful lands.”

Nation-Specific Statistics and Unrecorded Cases

Julia’s was the only case documented in her nation during that period, even though it fitted a pattern of the singling out of Mapuche advocates in Chile. Colombia reported forty-eight cases, making it the deadliest nation overall for environmental defenders, followed by Guatemala with 20 cases, the deadliest nation per capita. The country of Mexico had nineteen cases, putting it in third place overall.

Under-reporting remains an issue, especially in the Asian continent and the African region, which registered 16 and 9 instances respectively, the monitor noted. In general, the previous year the fewest cases of killings and disappearances of environmental defenders were documented for a decade.

The lead researcher, who conducted the research for the organization, commented: “It would be gratifying to report that this suggests a reduction of violence and an improvement in the situation for activists, but unfortunately that’s not the case. Human rights defenders confront situations of brutality that go far beyond murder. Often, aggression is evolve, become more sophisticated, change its face.”

Continuing Struggle for Accountability

Chuñil’s family have continued to pursue justice but their activism has made them a target of threats and harassment, too. During April, a pair of creatures from Chuñil’s home that they had intended to sell to finance legal costs were discovered dead, one shot and another by toxins. “This is primarily, a deliberate effort to block us from pursuing this legal matter,” her son Pablo San Martín told Global Witness.

Their analysis urges authorities to take steps to halt the lack of punishment of the killers of land activists by addressing the lack of legal entitlements activists have over property, reinforcing ineffective domestic judiciary frameworks, and guaranteeing endangered advocates are given adequate government security.

“Our sole request is a comprehensive, impartial investigation to be conducted,” the son remarked of his parent’s situation. “Nearly twelve months have passed since she vanished and we’re remain unaware about what happened. We want those behind this to be identified and prosecuted.”