International Indian Treaty Council Urgent Action Letter To Peruvian Government

INTERNATIONAL INDIAN TREATY COUNCIL

2940 16th St., Suite 305

San Francisco, CA. 94110-3664

Telephone (415) 641-4482 Fax (415) 641-1298

email: alberto@treatycouncil.org

June 9, 2009

President of Peru Allan Garcia c/o Ambassador Luis Chavez

Permanent Mission of Peru to the United Nations

899 2nd Ave. Suite 1600,

New York, NY 10017

Via email: lchavezb@unperu.org

RE: Massacre at Bagua

Mr. President,

In that role, we worked in partnership for many years with Ambassador Luis Chavez of Peru, the Chairman of the UN Working Group on the UN Declaration in Geneva during the long process of the elaboration of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples leading to and its final adoption by the General Assembly in 2007. During this process, we grew to respect his commitment to the human rights of Indigenous Peoples.

After this history and Peru’s constructive role in the recognition of Indigenous Peoples rights internationally in the process of adoption of the Declaration, it is tragically ironic that the first reported major massacre of Indigenous Peoples in Latin America in this new millenium is laid at Peru’s door.

We write to you to register our profound dismay, concern and outrage at the violence in Peru. IITC has joined other Indigenous Nations and communities as well as non-indigenous groups, organizations and individuals from all over the world to condemn the violence, characterized internationally as a massacre of Indigenous Peoples in the Province of Bagua in Peru last Friday, June 5th, 2009. The killings and repression of Indigenous Peoples by the Peruvian Government prompts us to communicate urgently and directly to your government. We urgently call on you to immediately halt all such actions, in the minds of many representing a return by your government to the undemocratic, violent and repressive policies so long endured by all Peruvians only a few years ago. We also call on Peru to move immediately to create conditions for return to peaceful dialogue based on mutual respect, utilizing the rights framework affirmed as a minimum standard in the UN Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, in particular the rights to self-determination and free prior informed consent regarding development on their lands and territories. This must include as a first strep an immediate withdrawal of Peruvian military and paramilitary from the Indigenous Peoples’ lands.

As of this writing the death toll reportedly stands at over 100 civilian deaths, including children, and 22 police. Hundreds are reported to have been unjured. We lament the tragic loss of life and injury of all. Urgent action is essential to resolve the immediate crisis as well as the underlying causes. These actions must be based on internationally recognized human rights including those affirmed in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We call upon Peru to uphold in its actions the words of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, affirming that recognition of inalienable human rights are the “foundation of freedom, justice and peace.”

We believe it is critical to note that the blockade against which the Peruvian government reacted with violence was the second unheeded call by Indigengous Peoples for respect and observance of human rights already affirmed by Peru through its adoption of the UN Declaration, as well as Peru’s legally-binding obligations as a state party to International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal People.

Instead of reducing the potential for increased violence and taking steps to restore peace and respectful dialogue, the Peruvian government’s actions only increased the violence and the numbers of dead. We are now aware of reports of more dead since last Friday, the concealment of the bodies of indigenous victims by the Peruvian army reported by a highly credible international NGO, the report of a parish priest of a mass grave of Indigenous victims in the area, and “suspects” transported to army barracks instead of jails. We are informed that Bagua has been militarized, that a curfew has been declared and that heavily armed army troops now roam the area. We are also informed that army units, some in civilian clothing are going house to house searching for suspected indigenous leadership, and protest participants, terrorizing Indigenous communities. Every day brings more news of increased deaths and repression.

We call upon you to begin an immediate dialogue with AIDESEP, the National Organization of the Amazon Indigenous people of Peru, as well as other Peruvian Indigenous Organizations and Nations so that just conditions can be agreed upon by all involved parties and that peace is restored based upon full respect for human rights.

For all our relations,

Alberto Saldamando, General Counsel International Indian Treaty Council

cc: Peruvian Ambassador to the United States, Ambassador Luis Valdivieso (lvaldivieso@embassyofperu.us) Andrea Carmen, IITC Executive Director Francisco Cali Tzay, IITC Board President

TO READ THE JOINT SIGN ON LETTER CONDEMNING THE VIOLENCE IN PERU, JUNE 6TH 2009, CLICK HERE (.pdf)