Statement of Solidarity with the Indigenous Peoples of Peru: Halt State Violence in Peru and Respect Indigenous Peoples Rights

Statement from the Global Indigenous Peoples Network where the Cordillera Peoples Alliance is part.

We strongly condemn the violent dispersal by the military on June 5, 2009, against the peaceful blockade by indigenous peoples in Bagua, Peru. Indigenous peoples have been fired upon and killed while asserting their legitimate and internationally recognized rights.

We fully endorse the call of the Chairperson of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz to the Peruvian government urging that they:

" Immediately cease all violence against indigenous communities and organizations;
" Ensure immediate and urgent medical attention to the wounded and assist the families of the victims; AND
" Abide by its national and international obligations regarding the protection of all human rights, including the rights of indigenous peoples and human rights defenders, especially their right to life and security.

We fully support the indigenous peoples of the Amazon in Peru in their protest and their right to protest against Legislative decrees 994 and 1090. These government policies not only undermine indigenous peoples rights but also pave the way for the unacceptable privatization of ancestral lands of indigenous peoples in the Amazon for easy access by the extractive industry such as mining and oil, logging and plantations.

Peru ratified ILO Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples and was the Chair of the UN Working Group on the Draft Declaration, the body which elaborated and negotiated the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples until it was adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in 2006. It voted yes for the adoption of the UN Declaration of Indigenous Peoples Rights by the UN General Assembly in 2007. It therefore has the obligation to respect the rights of indigenous peoples contained in these and other international human rights instruments. We believe there can be no justification for the Government of Peru to order the military to attack and violently disperse the indigenous peoples of the Peruvian Amazon who have been protesting since April 2009 against governmental policies which they believe undermine their rights, already won in the international arena.

We support the right of indigenous peoples to have their free, prior and informed consent obtained when any development project is brought to their lands and when legislation is made which directly affects them, which is one of the basic rights embedded in the UN Declaration.. Legislative decrees 994 and 1090 were passed without this prior consultation. Through the collective actions of indigenous peoples in Peru, they were able to convince the constitutional committee of Congress to rule that these were unconstitutional.

The indigenous peoples in the Peruvian Amazon have the right to their lands, territories and resources and the right to self-determination. Therefore they should be the ones who will decide how their lands, territories and resources should be used. They have the right to freely pursue their own economic, social and cultural development and thus are the ones who should determine what kind of development is appropriate for them. Clearly, they have decided that the Free Trade Agreement between the Peruvian government and the United States to exploit the Amazon for oil, gas and minerals and to open up these territories for logging and monocrop plantations is not appropriate for them or their territories.

We therefore call for the immediate cessation of any and all further attacks by the military against the indigenous peoples, the withdrawal of the military and call for good faith dialogue between the indigenous peoples and the government within the framework of upholding indigenous peoples rights. We also call on the Peruvian government to take immediate steps to restore some confidence by establishing a credible and independent investigation of the June 5, 2009 incident and by providing appropriate medical care for those injured and indemnification for the victims. #

GLOBAL INDIGENOUS PEOPLES NETWORK