Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:08:29 -0400 (EDT)
From: Cultural Survival agnes@cs.org

Indigenous Defenders of the Amazon Win Victory in Peru;
More International Support is Needed


In June, the 400,000 indigenous people of the Peruvian Amazon won a significant victory: after ten weeks of protests, strikes and bloodshed, they persuaded Peru’s President and Congress to repeal laws that ignored their rights and threatened the Amazon rainforest.
The struggle cost scores of lives (the exact number is yet to be established). The non-violent indigenous protesters gained broad support both nationally and internationally as military attacks on the protesters became more brutal and deadly.

“We felt that the laws annulled our existence. That’s why we rose up,” said Awajún leader Santiago Manuin, who was seriously wounded in the most deadly protest at Bagua.

Ninety-nine laws were rushed through the Peruvian Congress ostensibly to pave the way for implementation of a Free Trade Agreement with the US. The new laws opened Amazonian indigenous territories to exploitation by multinational oil, mining and logging companies without their consent. Indigenous organizations demand the repeal of many of the laws, but they called off their protests when Congress repealed the most offensive two. 

Now a meeting between Amazon indigenous leaders and Peruvian president Alan Garcia is set for July 20, and further negotiations are underway. The state Ombudsman has introduced a bill that would require consultation with indigenous peoples, in compliance with ILO Convention 169 and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.  

But this week, labor and environmental organizations called for more regional strikes, and President Garcia authorized a military response. Two indigenous leaders sought political asylum in the Nicaraguan embassy to escape military “persecution.”  

In collaboration with Global Response, Cultural Survival issued action alerts in June to bring international pressure to bear on the Garcia administration.

Now indigenous defenders of the Amazon rainforest are asking us to keep up the pressure on the President and Congress. Our letters should support indigenous peoples’ demands to:

* Cease the criminalization of protest
* Stop police and military actions against indigenous leaders and communities
* Align Peruvian laws with ILO Convention 169 and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
* Guarantee indigenous peoples the right to free, prior and informed consent.

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[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.]