the extrajudicial killings of “environmental defenders” (as they are traditionally called) are widely known and have been reported in the press. Most of those killings are committed by corporations and nation states who aim to expand destructive drilling, mining, and other capitalist projects into territories inhabited by Indigenous and other local peoples. But the murder, rape, and torture that were discussed in a recent House hearing are of a different nature. Here the victims are not environmental defenders but local people who live in or around protected parks. And the perpetrators are the good guys, or so one would think: the park rangers, known as “ecoguards” in central Africa, whose salaries are paid for by World Wildlife Fund. More
The post Murder, Rape, and Torture: Fortress Conservation on Trial appeared first on CounterPunch.org.
This content originally appeared on CounterPunch.org and was authored by Subhankar Banerjee.