A new amendment to Peru’s forest and wildlife law is being criticized by opponents as unconstitutional and a step backward in forest protection after it came into effect Jan. 10 following approval by Congress. The revised law (Law 29763) legalizes agricultural activities without the need for certain environmental evaluations or technical studies on private properties […]
Kichwa leader Quinto Inuma Alvarado, president the Santa Rosillo de Yanayacu community, was murdered last Wednesday, November 29, in the San Martín region of the Peruvian Amazon. The crime took place around five p.m. when the activist was traveling with several relatives on the Yanayacu River. When his boat hit a tree and got stuck, […]
The 107-page report, “Deadly Decline: Security Force Abuses and Democratic Crisis in Peru,” documents excessive use of force by security forces, due process violations and abuses against detainees, and failures in criminal investigations, as well as the entrenched political and social crisis that is eroding the rule of law and human rights in Peru. While some protesters were responsible for acts of violence, security forces responded with grossly disproportionate force, including with assault weapons and handguns. Forty-nine protesters and bystanders, including 8 children, were killed.
A new legislative proposal, criticized by opponents as a step backwards in recognizing the rights and protections of uncontacted and recently contacted Indigenous people, is currently under debate in Peru’s congress. The controversial proposal, which seeks to alter the current Law for the Protection of Indigenous Peoples in Isolation and Initial Contact Situations (known as […]
An oil palm front advances on an Indigenous community in Peru
Indigenous Shipibo leaders in Peru’s Ucayali region say they live under the threat of attacks from suspected land traffickers who continue to invade their territory.
The Indigenous community of Santa Clara de Uchunya says these invasions have been exacerbated by the advancement of oil palm plantations in the Amazonian district of Nueva Requena.
In August 2020, an outside group was caught cutting down trees that belong to the community.
“The invasions do not stop, the deforestation does not stop, and the threats do not stop,” Iván Flores Rodríguez said by phone from the Indigenous Santa Clara de Uchunya community. A leader of the Shipibo people, Flores Rodríguez outlines the history of his community in the Peruvian Amazon, when, in 2012, the oil palm company Plantaciones de Pucallpa S.A.C. (now Ocho Sur P S.A.C.) settled on the far side of the Aguaytía River, less than 5 kilometers (3 miles) from their homes.