Peru // Current

PERU VILLAGERS MURDERUED TO MAKE ANTI-WRINKLE CREAM

CLICK LINK FOR MORE INFO http://getwititmagazine.com/2009/11/20/1061/

GetWitIt
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Gang killed people for their fat for use in cosmetics

A gang in the remote Peruvian jungle has been killing people for their fat, police... more

Pericles_Lewnes
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They Cut the Trees and Lost Their Lives

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Progresshiv
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Nazca Civilization Collapsed After Cutting Key Trees

The ancient Nazca people, who once flourished in the valleys of south coastal Peru,... more

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Peruvian Indians Fight to Save the Rain Forest

Leaders of different Peruvian Indian tribes have joined together to protest against... more

Chod77
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Unassimilated Tribes Are Endangered Species

So-called "development" threatens to wipe out the remaining tribes of people who have... more

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La Tienanmen peruviana e i virus contro gli indios Repubblica.it - Blog - Eco-logica

Pessima iniziativa del governo peruviano, che prevede il 70 per cento della foresta... more

adribond
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Forget drug mules, here's two turkeys that were stuffed with coke!

Two turkeys in Peru are recovering after they were 'surgically implanted' with cocaine... more

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Bus crash kills at least 22 in Peru

At least 22 people died and another 31 were injured in eastern Peru when a bus plunged... more

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Fog catchers bring water to parched villages

When people from rural Peru move to Lima, the capital, they're looking for a better... more

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Kidnapped dogs found in Peru medical school lab

At least two stolen dogs were found in an operating room used for dissections at the... more

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Indigenous Tribes: 'We are fighting for our lives and our dignity'

Across the globe, as mining and oil firms race for dwindling resources, indigenous peoples are battling to defend their lands – often paying the ultimate price.

It has been called the world's second "oil war", but the only similarity between Iraq and events in the jungles of northern Peru over the last few weeks has been the mismatch of force. On one side have been the police armed with automatic weapons, teargas, helicopter gunships and armoured cars. On the other are several thousand Awajun and Wambis Indians, many of them in war paint and armed with bows and arrows and spears.

In some of the worst violence seen in Peru in 20 years, the Indians this week warned Latin America what could happen if companies are given free access to the Amazonian forests to exploit an estimated 6bn barrels of oil and take as much timber they like. After months of peaceful protests, the police were ordered to use force to remove a road bock near Bagua Grande.

In the fights that followed, at least 50 Indians and nine police officers were killed, with hundreds more wounded or arrested. The indigenous rights group Survival International described it as "Peru's Tiananmen Square".

"For thousands of years, we've run the Amazon forests," said Servando Puerta, one of the protest leaders. "This is genocide. They're killing us for defending our lives, our sovereignty, human dignity."

Yesterday, as riot police broke up more demonstrations in Lima and a curfew was imposed on many Peruvian Amazonian towns, President Garcia backed down in the face of condemnation of the massacre. He suspended – but only for three months – the laws that would allow the forest to be exploited. No one doubts the clashes will continue.

Peru is just one of many countries now in open conflict with its indigenous people over natural resources. Barely reported in the international press, there have been major protests around mines, oil, logging and mineral exploitation in Africa, Latin America, Asia and North America. Hydro electric dams, biofuel plantations as well as coal, copper, gold and bauxite mines are all at the centre of major land rights disputes.

A massive military force continued this week to raid communities opposed to oil companies' presence on the Niger delta. The delta, which provides 90% of Nigeria's foreign earnings, has always been volatile, but guns have flooded in and security has deteriorated. In the last month a military taskforce has been sent in and helicopter gunships have shelled villages suspected of harbouring militia. Thousands of people have fled. Activists from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta have responded by killing 12 soldiers and this week set fire to a Chevron oil facility. Yesterday seven more civilians were shot by the military.

The escalation of violence came in the week that Shell agreed to pay £9.7m to ethnic Ogoni families – whose homeland is in the delta – who had led a peaceful uprising against it and other oil companies in the 1990s, and who had taken the company to court in New York accusing it of complicity in writer Ken Saro-Wiwa's execution in 1995.

Meanwhile in West Papua, Indonesian forces protecting some of the world's largest mines have been accused of human rights violations. Hundreds of tribesmen have been killed in the last few years in clashes between the army and people with bows and arrows.

"An aggressive drive is taking place to extract the last remaining resources from indigenous territories," says Victoria Tauli-Corpus, an indigenous Filipino and chair of the UN permanent forum on indigenous issues. "There is a crisis of human rights. There are more and more arrests, killings and abuses.

...full article at linkAcross the globe, as mining and oil firms race for dwindling resources, indigenous... more

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Indigenous peoples protect the rainforest with hi-tech tools

Illegal logging is a threat to the rainforests of Peru. But the indigenous communities are using both ancient knowledge and modern technology to protect biodiversity and stop further destruction.

The lush green of the rain forest offers rich natural resources which the Ashaninka Indians have lived on for centuries. At the Yoreka Atame school of primeval forestry in Brazil, young indigenous and non-indigenous people have been learning how to make use of them in a sustainable way.

Since 2007, the school has taught more than 2,000 participants skills like the cultivating fruit trees, keeping bees, and erecting dams in creeks and lakes to enhance spawning grounds for fish.

"That's how we Ashaninka Indians here in the border region between Brazil and Peru want to pass on our traditional knowledge," said Moises Piyako. He cofounded the Yoreka Atame school together with his brother Benki in 2007.

Political problems between Brazil and its neighbor Peru make life complicated for the indigenous people in the border region.

"We are suffering from Peruvian logging companies, and now the Peruvian government also wants to dig for oil along the border," said Moises Piyako.

Illegal timber-fellers from Peru are increasingly encroaching on the rainforest on both sides of the border.

The land and its resources belong to the Ashaninka, according to the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention 169 adopted by the International Labour Organisation, ILO. It recognizes the rights of ownership of the peoples over the lands which they traditionally occupy. But Peru has been trying to circumnavigate international law by granting mining concessions for areas that are owned by indigenous peoples.

"In the process, Peruvian timber companies even illegally enter Brazilian territory," said Ashaninka spokesman Benki Piyako. "Illegal logging is putting our whole region and its biodiversity at risk." (more at link)

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So, to protect their land, they use GPS technology, vlogging, monitoring, satellite photos to show the deforestation, etc. They even sell CO2 certificates.Illegal logging is a threat to the rainforests of Peru. But the indigenous communities... more

vistapoint
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Persecution of indigenous leaders continues in Peru

Police prepare to arrest indigenous leader who was shot 8 times during protest upon his release from hospital.

UN Special Rapporteur report calls for immediate review of legal charges against indigenous leaders

Lima, Peru - San Francisco-based Amazon Watch is among dozens of human rights organizations calling on the Peruvian government to drop legal charges against Santiago Manuin Valera, the highly revered Awajun indigenous leader currently recovering from injuries suffered during attack on protesters by Peruvian Police on June 5th. Manuin, who was unarmed, was shot eight times as he approached Peruvian special police, attempting to negotiate a peaceful resolution to end the police attack on the blockade in Bagua, in the Amazonas Province. Currently, a squadron of police officers is standing by to arrest Manuin upon his discharge from a Chiclayo hospital where he has been undergoing surgery and rehabilitation. The government of Peruvian President Alan García has accused Manuin of being responsible for the two days of violence that ensued the June 5th police attack, resulting in 34 deaths and over 200 injuries.

Francisco Soberón, Executive Director of Peruvian human rights organization APRODEH, called the criminal charges politically motivated. "We have no doubt that behind Santiago Manuin's capture order there are pressures that don't have to do with legal considerations but that follow the political logic of the criminalization of social protest in Peru."

Five other indigenous leaders have been forced into exile and hiding after warrants were issued for their arrest on the charge of being "apologists for terrorism" and planning to overthrow the state for their appearance in a press conference in May. The government is pursuing over a dozen legal proceedings against regional and national leaders. Most of these leaders were not in Bagua on July 5th, however the government continues to hold them materially and intellectually responsible for the events that day. Police have raided indigenous organization offices and communities, as many leaders live in fear of imminent arrest. Investigations have focused exclusively on indigenous people and not the police violence that resulted in over 200 people being hospitalized after the government's violent clampdown on the protests.

"There must be an impartial and independent investigation into the June 5th violence in order to create a climate of reconciliation and peace with indigenous people. The intimidation and politically motivated persecution of indigenous leaders must stop," said Atossa Soltani, Executive Director of Amazon Watch. "The government cannot engage in meaningful dialogue with indigenous communities to resolve conflict if their elected leaders are in exile, hiding, or jail."

UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples, James Anaya, recently made public his final report on the Bagua assault. In his report, Anaya echoes the concerns of indigenous communities and civil society groups. The report highlights the immediate need for an impartial investigation, review of charges against indigenous leaders including Santiago Manuin and AIDESEP President Alberto Pizango, and creation of a framework law on indigenous community consultation.

James Anaya's full report on the Bagua, Peru violence can be reads here:
http://www.onu.org.pe/upload/documentos/Informe-Relator-Anaya-2009.pdfPolice prepare to arrest indigenous leader who was shot 8 times during protest upon... more