Rosenildo Pereira de Almeida
Rosenildo Pereira de Almeida was a rural worker and land rights defender. He was one of the leaders of the Santa Lúcia settlement, a peaceful occupation to demand land rights and land reform, located at the border of Santa Lúcia farm in Pau D’Arco, Pará, Brazil. The human rights defender had previously received multiple threats as a result of his work. However the number of threats increased following the killing of ten other defenders who were also members of the settlement, in relation to land disputes, on 24 May 2017.
The challenges and threats faced by human rights defenders in Brazil remain very high, particularly for those working on issues of land, environment, indigenous peoples, LGBTi rights, corruption and impunity. Many HRDs have experienced death threats, physical attacks, arbitrary arrests and lawsuits. The high number of killings is of particular concern and takes place against a background of widespread impunity.
