A Human Rights Watch report on Tuesday found that more than 300 people have been killed over the past decade in conflicts over the use of land and resources in the Amazon, many by organized criminal networks profiting from illegal deforestation.
Of those cases, only 14 were tried in court, the nonprofit said in the report based on 170 interviews.
"This really shows the level of impunity," Cesar Munoz, a senior investigator at Human Rights Watch, told Reuters on the sidelines of an event in Sao Paulo to discuss the report. "There is really a failure of investigation and accountability."