Ahead of COP30, environmentalists risk freedom to defend nature

Ana María Palacios Briceño and Eduardo Marenco

Ana María Palacios Briceño leads civic space research for the Americas at the CIVICUS Monitor. Eduardo Marenco leads the advocacy and campaign work in the Americas for CIVICUS.

Kenia Ines Hernández is an Indigenous woman, feminist and human rights lawyer from Guerrero, Mexico. She grew up speaking the language of her Amuzgo community, and for years defended the rights of her people.

But that commitment has come at a steep cost. Hernández is currently serving two prison sentences totalling nearly 22 years for her environmental human rights activism.

Mexican authorities arrested her in 2020 and convicted her for "aggravated battery," in a trial that the American Bar Association has said was "riddled with irregularities."

Read on Context

Photo by Pedro Céu on Unsplash

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