Press Releases

Press releases and resources for journalists from Global Witness. For general media enquiries please call + 44 (0) 7912 517 127 or email [email protected]. For enquiries about our EU campaigns please contact +32 487 80 31 61.

Statement | Aug. 20, 2024
Global Witness condemns escalating arrests of climate campaigners in Uganda

A total of 96 cases of people being detained or arrested for opposing the controversial East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) have been reported in the past nine months, with the number of arrests skyrocketing in recent months.
Statement | Aug. 13, 2024
Philippines Court of Appeals ruling raises concerns over safety of environmental defenders

Global Witness strongly condemns the decision by the Court of Appeals in the Philippines to deny the petition for protective writs to two youth land and environmental defenders made yesterday.
Statement | July 23, 2024
Harsh jail time for climate activists threatens democracy and climate action

Global Witness condemns the harsh sentences imposed on five climate defenders and calls on the new UK Labour government to urgently scrap laws criminalising peaceful protest.
Statement | April 18, 2024
Concern grows for Tanzanian communities opposing TotalEnergies’ oil pipeline

Global Witness is growing increasingly concerned for the safety of communities and campaigners challenging the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), with reports of police repeatedly harassing and intimidating those who voice their opposition to the project.
Statement | April 12, 2024
Justice restored after historical ruling upheld in retrial for murder of four Indigenous leaders

Almost a decade after the murder of four Saweto Indigenous leaders near the Peruvian border with Brazil, families have finally been brought justice, with five men convicted of the killings.
Press release | Feb. 6, 2024
ADNOC-backed Indian oil project tainted by allegations of land grabs, oppression and journalist's murder

An Indian oil refinery project backed by Saudi Aramco and ADNOC is giving rise to government oppression of local communities in Maharashtra, India.
Press release | Dec. 4, 2023
French giant TotalEnergies implicated in intimidation of communities affected by controversial oil pipeline

A new Global Witness investigation uncovers evidence that TotalEnergies has been party to bullying and intimidation of communities affected by the controversial EACOP project in Uganda and Tanzania, with community members reportedly feeling pressured into compensation deals for their land.
Statement | Nov. 27, 2023
Statement on the killing of renowned anti-mining activist and Indigenous environmental defender in Mexico

On 25 November, the Indigenous leader and renowned Mexican land and environmental defender Higinio Trinidad de la Cruz was found dead at a farm in the Ayotitlán Indigenous community near his hometown of Jalisco, northwest Mexico.
Press release | Sept. 14, 2023
Two Filipino environmental advocates violently abducted after opposing controversial airport project

Global Witness strongly condemns the reported abduction of Jhed Tamano (22) and Jonila Castro (21), two youth environmental advocates last seen more than a week ago in the province of Bataan, on the Philippines island of Luzon.
Press release | Sept. 13, 2023
Almost 2,000 land and environmental defenders killed between 2012 and 2022 for protecting the planet

At least 177 land and environmental defenders were killed last year for trying to protect the planet – one person every other day - according to a new report by Global Witness released today, working in collaboration with our partners globally.