People

Environmental degradation affects individuals and communities in a variety of ways. Toxic pollution creates health problems, large dams displace entire communities, mining and fracking destroys freshwater sources that cities and towns rely on. AIDA pioneered the use of international human rights law to protect environmental resources. We’ve also strengthened international law to protect human rights abuses stemming from environmental destruction.

Related projects

Barragem de Belo Monte no rio Xingu: 10 anos de impactos na Amazônia e de busca por reparações

Representamos as comunidades afetadas perante a Comissão Interamericana de Direitos Humanos em um processo no qual exigimos que o Brasil responda pelas graves violações dos direitos humanos causadas pela construção e operação da barragem de Belo Monte no rio Xingu.

The Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu River: 10 years of impacts in the Amazon and the search for reparations

We're representing affected communities before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in a case calling on Brazil to answer for the gross human rights violations caused from the construction and operation of the Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu River.

Protecting the health of La Oroya's residents from toxic pollution

For two decades we've represented residents of La Oroya in their quest to improve air and water quality in their highly contaminated town, long home to a controversial metal smelter, and to receive adequate medical attention for the damages inflicted by years of pollution.

Halting the implementation of large dams in the Americas

We're advocating before governments, financial institutions and decision-makers to stop the funding and implementation of large dam projects, highly unsustainable energy sources that often carry huge social and environmental costs, and whose implementation aggravates climate change.

Strengthening Protections Through the UN Human Rights System

We're working through United Nations mechanisms to promote and protect the human right to a healthy environment in Latin America, and to increase international pressure on States to respect human rights within their borders.

Supporting Cajamarca’s fight to defend its territory from mining

We're providing legal support to the people of Cajamarca, a rural municipality in Colombia that voted to ban all mining from its territory, who face the continued presence of a large-scale open-pit mining project that threatens their land and water.

Mayan women’s struggle before the Inter-American Development Bank in Guatemala

We advise indigenous communities in the micro-region of Ixquisis, Guatemala on how to best defend their water and natural resources from the damages of large dams.

Offering communities scientific support to stop mining’s damages

We share with communities scientific information on the damages of mining, and use it to strengthen our legal actions to stop harmful projects.

Preserving the legacy of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Heart of the World

We support the struggle of the Arhuaco, Kogi, Wiwa and Kankuamo indigenous peoples of Colombia, who seek legal protection for their territory and sacred sites, threatened by mining and other industries.

When the violation of the rights of Amazonian peoples in Brazil receive no response nationally, these communities find in AIDA a voice in the Americas. I am grateful that you exist.

Felicio Pontes Jr., Attorney, Federal Public Ministry, Brazil