Climate activists worldwide are facing increased persecution and criminalization by governments, with some of the most severe measures coming from Europe, according to a United Nations human rights expert. Governments including those of the U.K., France, Germany, Italy and Spain have introduced measures that criminalize protests and redefine terrorism and organized crime laws to persecute activists, Mary Lawlor, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, told the U.N. General Assembly on Oct. 16. Referring to the EU, Lawlor said “you parade yourself like the best in the world with the EU guidelines on human rights defenders. And we see a shocking lack of implementation of the guidelines in all EU member states and abroad.” Lawlor presented the results of her report showing that attacks on citizens defending human rights related to climate change are surging. According to the report, nonviolent protesters worldwide have been charged with crimes such as unlawful assembly, common nuisance, qualified disobedience, financing terrorism, and promoting enmity. “It is creating a vicious cycle: leaving the climate crisis unaddressed, human rights at risk, and human rights defenders deterred from speaking out and taking action,” Lawlor said. In Germany, for example, Letzte Generation (now Neue Generation) activists face heavier charges than typical for “forming or participating in a criminal association,” the report notes. Their crime: nonviolent acts of civil disobedience like planting trees on golf courses and spray-painting private jets. The group’s website was shut down with a notice labeling it a criminal organization, and…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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