Miguel Guimaraes, a Shipibo-Konibo leader, has spent his life protesting palm oil plantations and other agribusiness ventures exploiting the Amazon rainforest in his homeland of Peru. Last spring, as he attended a United Nations conference on protecting human rights defenders in Chile, masked men broke into his home, stole his belongings and set the place on fire. Guimarares returned days later to find “He will not live” spraypainted on the wall.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor, denounced the attack and urged Peru to guarantee Guimarare’s protection. Although Guimaraes enjoyed international support, his assailants haven’t been identified.

Guimaraes is one of 6,400 activists who endured harassment or violence for defending human rights against corp

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