Lima .— The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) granted this month a hearing to Peruvian indigenous environmental defenders following a stint of murders in Amazonian indigenous land. The hearing is set for Tuesday, October 6.
The hearing comes as indigenous leaders have been killed, even during the COVID-19 state of national emergency. But the murders of leaders and members of the communities Alto Tamaya-Saweto (Ashéninka people), Santa Clara de Uchunya (Shipibo-Conibo people), Unipacuyacu (Kakataibo people) and Nuevo Amanecer Hawái (Asháninka people) are not isolated incidents, they are the consequence of systemic corruption around illegal logging, oil palm agriculture, and land and drug trafficking.
“By appearing before the IACHR we, the indigenous people, will be able to publicly denounce on an international level, the serious violations of our fundamental rights to life, health, security, justice and territory, as well as demand a real and definitive solution to this situation,” said Herlin Odicio, president of the Federation Native of Kakataibo Communities (FENACOKA)
Peruvian government agents and institutions actively and decisively participate in promoting impunity in the judiciary, and block indigenous territorial rights. The government is failing to protect the human rights of indigenous peoples, the Amazon forest and the ecosystem. Many of the companies involved in environmental and organized crime act in complicity with state officials.
Four cases of corruption affecting the fundamental rights of indigenous populations, in particular defenders of the Peruvian Amazon, will be presented.
According to the established procedure, high-level officials of the Peruvian government will be present. This hearing was requested by FENACOKA, the Federation of Native Communities of Ucayali (FECONAU), and the Regional Organization of AIDESEP (Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Forest) Ucayali (ORAU). Proética, the Peruvian chapter of Transparency International, the Legal Defense Institute (IDL) and Rainforest Foundation United States (RFUS), joined the hearing request.
- Alto Tamaya-Saweto Communitie Indigenous
- Santa Clara de Uchunya Communitie Indigenous
- Unipacuyacu Communitie Indigenous
- Nuevo Amanecer Hawái Communitie Indigenous
- The Federation of Native Communities of Ucayali – FECONAU
- Federation Native of Kakataibo Communities -FENACOKA
- Regional Organization of AIDESEP (Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Forest) Ucayali – ORAU
- Proética, the Peruvian chapter of Transparency International
- The Legal Defense Institute – IDL
- Rainforest Foundation United States (RFUS)
September 7, 2020