Latin American countries sign legally binding pact to protect land defenders

New treaty compels states to investigate and punish killings and attacks on people defending their land or environment

Officials from 24 Latin American and Caribbean states have signed a legally binding environmental rights pact containing measures to protect land defenders, almost two years to the day since environmental leader Berta Ciceres was killed in her home in Honduras.

Last year almost 200 nature protectors were killed across the world, 60% of them in Latin America. The new treaty obliges states to "guarantee a safe and enabling environment for persons, groups and organisations that promote and defend human rights in environmental matters".