Those who defend nature are not always silenced through physical violence. Sometimes, the pressure comes in the form of lawsuits, legal proceedings, legal costs and precautionary measures. SLAPPs, Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation or strategic claims against public participation, legal actions that may present characteristics of litigation aimed at intimidate, wear down, silence your criticisms.
Unfortunately, Panama is not outside this map, in the context of opposition to the project Puerto Barú environmental organizations Centro de Incidencia Ambiental (CIAM Panamá) and Adopta Bosque are facing civil and criminal proceedings initiated by the company promoting the project. The case was recently highlighted by the agency.IPS in an article on the growing legal harassment against environmental defenders in Latin America.
The problem goes far beyond Panama; between 2015 and 2024, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre documented more than 530 SLAPP cases initiated by private actors against human rights defenders who had raised concerns related to business activities.
The agency’s database continues to be updated and currently counts 566 SLAPP cases globally since 2015, which shows that the phenomenon has not stopped,191 of those cases occurred in Latin America, the region with the highest number recorded.
Behind these figures are organizations, journalists, communities, and human rights defenders who must dedicate time, money, and energy to defending themselves in court for having questioned activities or projects they consider harmful.The impacts of a SLAPP begin long before there is a sentence and act, in many cases, as a legal gag order on those who defend life.
In Panama, the case of Puerto Barú brings this discussion to the table; CIAM and Adopta Bosque are among the organizations that have questioned the project and its potential impacts on the David’s Mangroves in the Gulf of Chiriquí. Both organizations are part of the coalition that went to court to challenge the approval of the Environmental Impact Study for Puerto Barú.
While the Supreme Court is evaluating a lawsuit seeking to annul the study, both organizations have faced legal action related to their opposition to the project. According to IPS the lawsuits include accusations of damages, slander, defamation, and harm to the national economy. As part of the civil proceedings, a court also ordered measures regarding the organizations’ accounts and assets. It is important to distinguish that this is not a final judgment against the organizations, but of measures taken while the process continues.
A lawsuit doesn’t need to result in a conviction to have consequences; defending oneself involves lawyers, financial resources, hours of work, public exposure, and uncertainty. When there are also precautionary measures in place regarding accounts or assets, an organization’s ability to continue its work can be affected.
The analysis itself of Business & Human Rights Resource Centre shows that the judicial harassment accounted for more than half of the attacks against human rights defenders that it documented between 2015 and 2024. This category includes arbitrary arrests, abusive summonses, criminal proceedings, and SLAPP.
Therefore, the risk not only affects those who receive a lawsuit, but also sends a message to other organizations, communities, or people whereSpeaking out can come at a cost.This potential deterrent effect on public participation is one of the reasons why SLAPPs generate international concern.
In statements to IPS,Carlos Bichet, CIAM lawyer placed the Puerto Barú case within a regional problem of judicial harassment.
“The case lacks a concrete legal basis. It is a serious issue because it is not an isolated lawsuit; rather, it occurs within a broader context of judicial harassment in the region. It sends a message not to oppose the project.” — Carlos Bichet.
This is the position expressed by CIAM’s lawyer regarding the legal proceedings the organization is facing.IPS also notes that CIAM is preparing a complaint before the Committee to Support the Application and Compliance of Escazú Agreement, arguing obstacles to its fulfillment.
Judicial harassment is also occurring in a region marked by far more extreme forms of violence against those who protect territories and ecosystems. According to Global Witness, at least 124 people who defended the land and the environment were murdered during 2025.
85% of those murders occurred in Latin America, Colombia recorded 39 cases, Brazil 26, Honduras 12 and Mexico 10. Since Global Witness began documenting these attacks in 2012, the organization has recorded 2,375 human rights defenders killed or disappeared in the world.
These are different forms of pressure and violence, and should not be equated, but together they illustrate the context of risk in which many people and organizations are currently engaged in environmental advocacy. Similarly, when environmental organizations must question whether they can continue operating after challenging a project, the problem no longer affects only that organization. It affects public participation and our collective capacity to protect nature.
Therefore, protecting ecosystems also means to protect those who raise their voices to defend them.
Defend the defenders #DefendTheDefenders #DefendTheMangroves
Sources:
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
IPS Article Legal harassment looms over Latin American environmentalists
Report Global Witness The fight for the protection of people who defend the land and the environment
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