Peru: International outcry brings action

Mourning those killed in violent clashes in Peru, June 2009 [REUTERS/Pilar Olivares, courtesy www.alertnet.org]

An international outcry against a government crackdown on protestors in Peru has helped protect the rights of indigenous people. Many of you added your voices to that call, but we need to keep up the pressure on new cabinet ministers

33 people, both police and protestors, died in violent clashes when police broke up a peaceful protest on June 5-6 in Bagua in the northern Amazon region of Peru. In addition, 200 people were injured and 79 detained.

The strike and blockade were organised by indigenous groups against a government plan to implement Peru’s Free Trade Agreement with the United States.

On June 18, in response to international pressure, the Peruvian government repealed the two main disputed decrees of the Free Trade Agreement. These decrees would have made it easier to open up the Amazon to oil, logging and mining companies, putting indigenous people’s environment and way of life under threat.

Errors admitted

President Alan García acknowledged that errors had been made and admitted that his government should have included indigenous peoples in discussions about the decrees before he issued them.

Francis McDonagh CAFOD programme manager for the Andes said: “Thank you to everyone who emailed the Peruvian government, your actions have made them sit up and take notice.”

“But we are still deeply concerned that 44 people are still facing investigation, often in a language they don’t understand. The fundamental question still remains: what sort of development is sustainable in Peru’s Amazon region? The Peruvian government, still handing out concessions, seems not to realise how crucial this issue is.”

Keeping up the pressure

the way forward

The Church is represented on the dialogue commission set up by government to look for ways forward. This includes:

• an investigating commission to establish the facts of Bagua,
• a legal commission to examine other laws that may need modifying,
• a commission to set up mechanisms for dialogue with the indigenous peoples in accordance with ILO Convention 169,
• a commission to advise on just and sustainable development policies for the Amazon region.

Alongside our partner the Peru Support Group, we are lobbying the Peruvian government to ensure that they respect the people’s right to peaceful protest.

We are supporting work on the ground through local churches in the Amazon to secure proper medical treatment for the injured and to provide legal assistance to those facing charges. The Church, both Catholic and Protestant, is the institution with the widest outreach in remote areas of Peru.

Religious orders, in particular the Jesuits, have played an important role in providing medical care.

Many people were too frightened to seek medical attention, so the Church is organising a humanitarian mission to travel up the rivers in the region to see if there are people who need help.

In his recent visit to the country, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, James Anaya, urged the Peruvian government to launch an independent investigation into what happened at the protests in Bagua.

With the setting up of these commissions, the Peruvian cabinet resigned. The new cabinet, appointed on 10 July, is more conservative than its predecessor, and continued pressure will be essential to make it keep to the spirit of the agreements that have been made.

take action on human rights

Peru: Speak up for indigenous rights At least 33 people died when police broke up a peaceful protest by indigenous groups against a government plan to implement Peru's Free Trade Agreement with the US. Email the Peruvian government now, telling it to protect indigenous rights

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