After finalizing ISHR's Human Rights Studies Program and obtaining his Master's in 2018, Luiz Pecora joined Human Rights Watch's team in São Paulo, his hometown. As the Coordinator of the Brazil Office, he was responsible for assisting the Brazil Director with her advocacy effort in the country, while coordinating a wide range of activities of the organization locally. After one year and a half working for HRW, he recently left his position there and joined the renowed socioenvironmental NGO Instituto Socioambiental, to work as a lawyer for their project in the North of Brazil, in Roraima state. Luiz spoke about his new position: "It is going to be hard work, as there is a lot of pressure on indigenous lands in Brazil under Bolsonaro, and the records of invasions and conflict in the Amazon region are escalating. The greatest threat in the area I will be based in is illegal gold mining, which deeply affects indigenous peoples and their lands: aside from deforestation, mercury contamination of waters and natural crops, this severely impacts the health of communities for generations. I am conscious of the hard challenge we find ahead. Nonetheless, I feel excited with the opportunity to work directly with indigenous peoples rights and contribute positively to the protection of their lands."
