Wellington 'Dinho' Gabriel, a Quilombola community leader from Brazil, spoke to the Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic team about their struggle. 

The Quilombola communities, which once resisted slavery to protect their ancestrality and lands, are now battling against corporate industrialists and exploitative governments. In a country currently described as a constitutional democracy, their resistance has been faced with brutality: in the past years, Wellington’s father and grandmother were assassinated. His presence and voice at international stages is a sign of their continued struggle.

In October 2024, Dinho spoke at an event at the United Nations ahead of UN Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor’s presentation to the United Nations General Assembly on the situation of Human Rights Defenders. He called on the international community to support Quilombolas in their fight for collective protection, the right to a healthy environment, and reparations. 

The full interview, which was published through the International Law and International Thought academic blog, can be accessed here.