This report documents the systematic repression of Adivasi human rights defenders leading climate justice movements in Bastar, Chhattisgarh—one of India’s most heavily militarised Indigenous regions. Based on civil society fact-finding, ground-level documentation, and legal analysis, the submission exposes how counterinsurgency and “law and order” frameworks are deployed to criminalise peaceful Indigenous resistance to extractive projects, mining-linked infrastructure, and forced displacement.
The report highlights patterns of militarisation, arbitrary arrests under anti-terror laws, unlawful bans on grassroots movements such as Moolvasi Bachao Manch, and the near-total absence of accountability for violations including intimidation, custodial abuse, and denial of medical care. It situates these abuses within India’s obligations under international human rights law, the Constitution of India, and Indigenous rights frameworks including UNDRIP, PESA, and the Forest Rights Act.
Submitted to the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, this report calls for urgent international attention to the targeting of Adivasi youth defending land, forests, and climate-resilient futures, and for concrete action to end militarised repression and protect Indigenous climate justice leadership.
Read the full submission here.