Peru’s Congress Overturns Land Laws

Just received this information via email from a 'reliable' source:

Peru’s Congress Overturns Land Laws

The Peruvian Congress has overturned two controversial land laws that led to an indigenous uprising and dozens of deaths in the ensuing police crackdown. The laws would have opened large areas of the Peruvian Amazon to logging, dams and oil drilling. Indigenous leader Daysi Zapata praised the decision by the Peruvian Congress.

Daysi Zapata: “Today is a very historic day for all indigenous people and the entire country of Peru. We, the indigenous peoples, are present here because we believe that the demands of the indigenous peoples are just.”

Subject: A summary of events in Peru and what you can do

Hi all,
Below please find a summary that colleagues of mine in Peru have put together of
the background to the protests, the events of June 5th, what is being done now,
and what international supporters can do to help.
Thankyou to all of you who have offered to circulate this information.

Thankyou,

Conrad


*Summary of the situation in Peru following the events of June 5th on the
road to Bagua*

If you already know the situation, and just want to know how you can help –
jump to the end.

*Background*

Between December 2007 and June 2008 Peruvian President Alan Garcia was
granted special powers to pass laws relating to the Free Trade Agreement
with the United States, without them having to be fully consulted. During
this time he passed a series of laws impacting indigenous territorial rights
and land security. These laws systematically undermine the legal rights that
indigenous peoples hold over their land, promoting the privatization of
lands currently under communal control, reverting some lands classed as
abandoned and unproductive to state control and enabling companies (petrol,
mining etc) to enter indigenous lands without prior negotiation with the
communities. Aside from the violations of indigenous rights to territory
which these laws contain, they were never consulted with indigenous people,
itself a violation of ILO Convention 169 of which Peru is a signatory, and
in contravention of the UN Declaration of Indigenous Rights.

In August last year indigenous peoples across the Amazon protested and held
strikes in opposition to these laws, and as a result 2 laws, which
facilitated the selling of indigenous communal lands, were repealed. In
addition a multiparty committee was set up to investigate the problems faced
by indigenous peoples in relation to the new laws, the issue of
consultation, and the recent criminalization of protests. The report
published on December 19th called for ten of the laws affecting indigenous
peoples to be repealed as they undermined indigenous rights and were
unconstitutional. However congress has delayed approving this report, never
putting it on the agenda to be discussed.

On the 9th of April 2009 Amazonian indigenous peoples gave up waiting, and
began new protests and road and river blocks across the region. The strikes
were, on the part of the indigenous peoples, entirely peaceful. However in
early May the Peruvian Government declared much of the Amazon to be in a
State of Emergency, employing new tactics and authorizing military
intervention to resolve the strikes.

One of the biggest protests was on the road between Jaen and Bagua, in the
Department of Amazonas, where indigenous Awajun and Wampis were blocking the
road at a bridge called Corral Quemada. On May 10th police entered and
cleared the block using force and shooting tear gas bombs into the crowd.
Many people were injured.

The Awajun and Wampis retreated a few kilometres to a curve in the road
called “Curva del Diablo” (Devils Curve). There they set up new road blocks,
which they held until June 5th. The indigenous protesters were not armed
with firearms during the blockade, having only their spears, which they
carry with them for ceremonial purposes.

*Events of June 5th*

On June 4th Peruvian Congress was supposed to discuss the possible repeal of
one of the more controversial laws (1090), however it was postponed by
congress. Alan Garcia was reported in national press as saying “the time for
dialogue is over, it is time to bring order back to the country” (El
Correo).

In the evening of Thursday, June 4th, a meeting was held between local
police, indigenous and religious leaders in the town of Jaen, near Bagua.
The police general is reported as informing the meeting that he had received
orders to clear the road on the 5th or 6th, but that he would give the
protesters until 10am on the 5th to leave peacefully, before using any
force.

Before dawn on the morning of the 5th, armed police entered the area from
various directions and by 7am had cleared the road block at the Curva del
Diablo. During this time there appears to have been shooting from both
police and protesters, and casualties were reported on both sides. Shooting
took place not only on the road but up in the hills around the blockade
where it seems police followed indigenous people who fled when the attack
began.

The police advanced along the road, continually firing guns and tear gas,
backed up by helicopters dropping tear gas bombs. The police beat indigenous
peoples they managed to detain. By the time the protesters reached a major
crossroad known as the Reposa, they met crowds of non-indigenous people
coming to meet them from Bagua Chica and Bagua Grande, who had heard about
the conflict on the radio and were coming to support the indigenous
protesters. There were many people injured by firearms, and the protests
continued in Bagua Chica and Bagua Grande where people fled from the tear
gas and bullets.

The hospitals in Bagua Chica and Bagua Grande were full of wounded, and at
6pm there were 5 confirmed dead in the hospitals (including 1 police
officer), and 5 dead bodies on the Curva del Diablo, in addition to dead
police who had been evacuated.

The State reported that in the evening of June 5th, indigenous protestors
holding a petrol installation 5 hours away known as Estación 6 took 35
police captive, and that early on the morning of the 6th ten officers were
killed before or during a rescue operation.

Following these events a curfew was placed on the whole area, with
restricted movement in the streets between 3pm and 6am.

*Reports and testimonies*

Total numbers of dead and injured remains unclear. The State claims there
have been 24 police killed in total. Numbers of dead protesters (majority
indigenous peoples, but also some local mestizos) range from 10 to over 100.

The Peruvian government claims that indigenous peoples attacked the police,
who then acted in self-defense, and that they took guns off murdered police
officers. However indigenous peoples and the local mixed population in the
area have made serious allegations against the Peruvian police and
government. Their claims, many of which have been made in filmed testimonies
include:

·       Police opening fire upon indigenous protesters without provocation

·       Police shooting people who were running away

·       Police opening fire from helicopters on the crowd

·       Police firing upon and threatening press

·       Removal of bodies in helicopters from the mountain

·       Unauthorised removal of bodies from local hospitals

·       Burning of bodies

·       Disposal of bodies in the river

·       Appearance of bodies in the river

·       Rape and torture of detained protesters

·       Mass graves

·       Unpublished lists of those detained, many of whom were wounded

·       Police searching houses in the area one by one and detaining anyone
with an ‘indigenous looking’ face

*Current situation in Peru*

During the first three days after the attacks, the government created
obstacles for anyone providing an unofficial version of the facts of June 5
th. The press was bombarded with images and discourses portraying indigenous
peoples as savages, with the focus being on the police killed and very
little said about the many indigenous and mestizo deaths. Anyone working
with indigenous peoples was portrayed as being part of an international
complot to stop Peru from developing and having sovereignty over its
resources. NGOs and human rights organizations were accused.

The national Amazonian indigenous organization AIDESEP has been attacked in
Government statements and by the national press. The President of AIDESEP,
Alberto Pizango, has been vilified as the author of the attacks, despite the
fact that he always promoted dialogue and during the 54 days of protest
before June 5th repeatedly called on the protesters to remain peaceful. A
warrant for his arrest has been released and he is currently in asylum in
the embassy of Nicaragua in Lima.

The situation at the sites of other protests in the Amazon is escalating,
with more indigenous peoples arriving and the government sending in special
armed forces. An indefinite strike has been called across the Amazon
starting on June 11th.

The laws indigenous peoples are protesting against have still not been
properly discussed in congress, although one of them, 1090, was suspended
for 60 days on June 10th. It should have been repealed.

*What Peruvian organizations are doing*

A large number of human rights, indigenous rights and environmental
organizations in Peru have close links to the issues and the areas where
these events occurred, and have now come together to identify priorities and
form emergency working groups to ensure actions taken are coordinated and
cover all necessary fields, and support the indigenous movement and the need
for the truth to be revealed. These actions include:

·       Call for precautionary measures from the InterAmerican Commission
for Human Rights. Requested by AIDESEP before the attacks.

·       Legal support for the indigenous leaders and others implicated in
the protests, many of whom are now in hiding.

·       Humanitarian support for the protesters, including medical aid for
the wounded, helping them return to their communities and psychological
support to recover what they have witnessed and suffered.

·       Continued pressure on Peruvian Congress for the laws that violate
indigenous rights to be repealed.

·       Coordinated press and communications campaigns.

·       Collection of information, video and photographs from June 5th and
recording of testimonies from witnesses.

·       Educating the national and international public about the problems
with the package of laws in question.

·       Activities promoting peace in Peru, including an international
commission and a peace vigil and march in Lima.

*What international organizations can do*

This event is the greatest human rights tragedy in Peru in recent years, and
there are very serious allegations being made against the government,
including that of genocide. As yet there has been no concerted international
response to these events, and international press has been slow to publish
the story.

We call upon everyone, not just lovers of the Amazon, but anyone who
respects life and peace, to take this issue as seriously as it deserves.
People wanting to help can take the following actions:

·       Donations for humanitarian aid to the indigenous people wounded
during the protests. Donations will be sent to the Vicariato of Jaen, a
local religious institution that has many years of experience in the area
and supports the local indigenous peoples. Money can be sent to them via
Amazon Watch

http://www.amazonwatch.org/peru-protests.php

·       Send letters to Alan Garcia and sign petitions calling for the
violence to end, a full investigation into the events, and for the laws to
be repealed

http://amazonwatch.org/peru-action-alert.php

http://www.avaaz.org/en/peru_stop_violence/?cl=250912030&v=3462

·       Hold vigils / demonstrations outside Peruvian Embassies

·       Circulate information to all contacts, especially press

·       Write to SPDA, (Peruvian Society for Environmental Law) which has
been advising the Government on environmental law, including the laws the
indigenous people are protesting against, asking them to take international
indigenous rights agreements into account, and support the repeal of the
laws (postmaster@spda.org.pe, Prolongación Arenales 437 Lima 27, Perú)

*Links*

There are many, many links on the internet, with information and discussion
of the events of June 5th, the background and current situation.