place, our news website devoted exclusively to reportage on land, property, housing and indigenous rights around the world, welcomed a packed room for a screening of its latest film at London's iconic Frontline Club last week.
Worth Dying For?, directed by Nicky Milne, explores the aftermath of the murder of Honduras' most well known environmental activist Berta Cáceres, and the extraordinary epidemic of death sweeping land rights campaigners in Honduras. More people in Honduras are killed per capita than anywhere else in the world, for defending the land and over 90 % of murders are unsolved. The film is part of larger feature, titled Politics of Death, released by place earlier this June.
The event kicked off with a word of welcome from Paola Totaro, Editor of place, who charted the remarkable growth of the news site since its launch thanks to generous support from the Omidyar Network last year. Following the screening, Paola was joined by a panel of experts for an in-depth discussion on the growing phenomenon of land defenders dying to protect their homes from global industry’s relentless push to develop the natural resources that lie beneath their feet:
- Ana Zbona, Project Manager for Civic Freedoms & Human Rights Defenders Project – Business and Human Rights Resource Centre
- Joe Avapura Moses, Human Rights Defender and Chairman Paga Hill Heritage Association
- Erin Kilbride, Media Coordinator, Front Line Defenders
- Professor Bobby Banerjee, Professor of Management, Cass Business School
Panelists explored a range of topics including the effects of the killing of a human rights defender on activist networks, the apparent contradiction between conflicts in the mining industry and companies' CSR programmes, and whether the phenomenon is a product of capitalist systems.
For the latest reportage from place, visit www.thisisplace.org.
place brings you exclusive land and property rights reportage produced by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. It also showcases the very best analysis, photographs and videos from land and property rights experts working around the world.
