"The repression that environmental activists using peaceful civil disobedience are facing in Europe is a major threat to democracy and human rights, according to U.N. special rapporteur Michel Forst.

The 2016 Dakota Pipeline protests, led by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, not only triggered a major crackdown but also a flood of anti-protest legislation in the U.S.

Environmental defenders are increasingly stigmatized as criminals or terrorists in the public arena, which may lead to a spike in verbal and even physical violence.

In Germany, laws of the past that were meant to deal with terrorist outfits such as the Rote Armee Fraktion were used to deal with the environmental group Letzte Generation (Last Generation)."

Peter Speetjens reports for Mongabay on June 24, 2024. [2]