Two land and environmental defenders killed in less than a month

Introduction

Alberto Fujimori’s release: a breach of Peru's obligations under international law

On 4th December 2023, the Constitutional Court ruled that the National Penitentiary Institute should immediately release former President Fujimori, who was serving a 25-year prison sentence. In 2009, Fujimori was convicted for his involvement as an indirect perpetrator, while serving as president, in crimes committed against the victims of the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta cases. These crimes were classified as crimes against humanity under International Criminal Law.

This decision represents the final judicial battle resulting from a humanitarian pardon issued on 24th December 2017 by former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski Godard on the grounds of health concerns granted to Fujimori. Before this, on 17th March 2022, the Constitutional Court declared that Fujimori’s humanitarian pardon should be implemented.

On 6th December, Fujimori was released from Barbadillo prison in Lima after 16 years of imprisonment. Following this, on 19th December 2023, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) declared the Peruvian state in contempt and ordered a reinforced supervision of the sentences in the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta cases, where the IACtHR found the state violated the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights.

According to the 2023 IACtHR resolution, the Peruvian Constitutional Court “only sought to validate its 2022 pardoning decision, ignoring what the IACtHR had previously established, that is, the standard for granting the pardon as set out in the 2018 IACtHR decision and the subsequent request from the Court of 7 April 2022 not to release Fujimori. As to the substance of the pardon, the IACtHR indicates that the December 2023 [Constitutional Court] decision erroneously advocates the necessity and proportionality of the pardon. In fact, the IACtHR takes note of a medical report submitted by Peru after Fujimori’s release and suggests that Peru did not make a serious effort to consider objective information about Fujimori’s health before proceeding with his release.”

Several human rights organisations have called for Peru to abide by its legal obligations and for effective measures by the IACtHR to ensure such compliance. “Fujimori’s release is a slap in the face to victims of atrocities. The OAS [Organisation of American States] should examine the release in the context of very serious erosion of the rule of law and the protection of human rights in Peru,” said Juanita Goebertus, Americas Director at Human Rights Watch.

Similarly, victims have condemned the Peruvian Constitutional Court decision. “A regime of impunity has been established. Ignoring the ruling of the Inter-American Court really makes us a country that does not respect human rights at the international level, and that is a step that is difficult to reverse,” said Gisela Ortiz, who lost her brother Luis Enrique in a massacre perpetuated under the administration of former President Alberto Fujimori.

Association

The heightened risks and threats faced by environmental and indigenous people’s rights defenders in Peru, as reported by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Michel Forst, in December 2020 (A/HRC/46/35/Add.2, ¶ 61), are evident in the recent killings of two land and environmental defenders in November and December 2023. According to Global Witness, since 2012, there have been at least 54 documented killings of land and environmental defenders in Peru.

Killing of land and environmental defenders

On 29th November 2023, Quinto Inuma Alvarado, a Kichwa community leader and land defender, was shot and killed while travelling on the Yanayacu River in the San Martín province of the Peruvian Amazon. He was on his way back from a seminar for environmental defenders when his boat was blocked with a tree trunk and a group of masked men shot him several times, three times in the back and once in the head. One of his relatives was also wounded.

Inuma Alvarado had been actively defending the collective titling of his community, Santa Rosillo de Yanayacu, and had been denouncing illegal logging activities in Huimbayoc. During this period, he received several death threats related to his work. According to Mongabay, an environmental science and conservation news platform, in the days preceding the fatal attack, Inuma Alvarado reported invasions, land trafficking, drug trafficking, and illegal logging within the community.

This was not the first attack against him. According to the Forest People Programme, a human rights organisation working with forest peoples across the globe, Inuma Alvarado faced ongoing attacks since 2018 for opposing illegal activities in his community’s territory. In response, he requested the activation of the early warning procedure for human rights defenders, which was granted in 2021 (Directorial Resolution No. 003-2021-JUS/DGDH). These measures were still in force. Additionally, in July 2021, he survived an attempted assassination when a plane evacuated the Kichwa leader from his community after drug traffickers beat him up. The incident occurred just days after the prosecutor’s office visited the community to verify the presence of illegal coca plantations. In 2022, Inuma Alvarado was relocated to a safe house in the face of the death threats he was receiving.

In the past years, the San Martin province has seen high tensions between Indigenous people and illegal loggers. As reported by Global Forest Watch, from 2001 to 2021, the area between Loreto and San Martín lost 1.14 thousand hectares (kha) of tree cover, equivalent to a 4.6% decrease in tree cover since 2000. Similarly, an investigation by the Associated Press (AP) revealed that the Kichwa community had been suffering significant deprivation of their ancestral lands due to the establishment of Peru’s Cordillera Azul National Park, located in the Amazon and the Andes foothills. It was reported that the Kichwa people were not consulted regarding the park’s formation or its subsequent developments. Afterwards, the trees within the park were exploited for profit by selling carbon credits to multinational corporations aiming to offset their emissions.

Environmental and human rights organisations have denounced the killing of Inuma Alvarado. On 30th November 2023, the Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest, (Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana, AIDESEP), a civil society organisation representing the indigenous peoples of the Peruvian Amazon, demanded a prompt and serious investigation to find and punish those responsible for the killing of Inuma Alvarado.

They also demanded that:

“[…] State institutions implement intersectoral mechanisms to guarantee the personal integrity and lives of those who daily protect their ancestral territories from the worst aggressors, which are the mafias and criminal organizations. We need these protection mechanisms to be effective and not merely declarative documents!”

Three weeks later, on 17th December 2023, Benjamín Flores Ríos, Kakataibo leader and environmental defender, was found dead at his home in the Mariscal Cáceres community in the Padre Abad province. According to the Regional Organisation of Aidesep Ucayali (Organización Regional de Aidesep Ucayali, ORAU) Flores Ríos was threatened a week before by coca growers encroaching on the community’s lands.

In June 2023, Kakataibo indigenous leaders told Agencia EFE of rising threats: drug trafficking and illegal logging endanger their territory in Ucayali and Huánuco:

“Today, native communities situated in areas threatened by illegal economies are facing an escalation of violence and, in turn, environmental degradation of their ancestral lands. The situation has resulted in the gradual displacement of the indigenous people. We are practically living as if we were the invaders, as if we were from other territories. We are threatened by other people who come here, said Jakeline Odicio, spoke person of the Kakataibo Women's Federation.

In the neighbouring areas such as the city Flor de Ucayali and the province of Puerto Inca, Huánuco, there have been reported cases of indigenous territories taken over by organised crime. The Kakataibos of Unipacuyacu have been displaced by drug trafficking in less than one percent of their territory. According to Alvaro Másquez, lawyer at the Constitutional Litigation and Indigenous Peoples at the Legal Defense Institute (Instituto de Defensa Legal, IDL), this community has been harassed by drug trafficking: “Within the territory of Unipacuyacu, there are at least four illegally established hamlets, along with at least four airstrips used for drug trafficking flights. In this context, invaders of the communal territory are relentlessly attempting to physically eliminate its members.”

The ORAU and Native Federation of Kakataibo Communities (Federación Nativa de Comunidades Kakataibo, FENACOKA), condemned the killing of Flores Ríos: “the Amazon is stained with blood to silence the voice of an environmental defender.” There has been an increase in recent years in crimes targeting Indigenous defenders in the Peruvian Amazon, a vast and remote area with a very limited state presence. According to news reports, at least 39 environmental defenders were murdered in Peru between 2013 and November 2023. Ucayali leads the list with seven defenders killed.

New bill could threaten protected territories occupied by indigenous people in voluntary isolation

On 16th November, the Transport and Communications Commission of the Peruvian Congress approved a statement containing Bill 6259/2023/CR, which seeks to declare a national interest in a road project within the Madre de Dios department. This project would establish land routes, one of which involves a road linking Boca Manu and Boca Colorado. This proposed route would pass through the Manu National Park, the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, and the Madre de Dios Territorial Reserve, areas inhabited by Indigenous Peoples in Isolation and First Contact (PIACI).

According to the Peruvian Society for Environmental Law (Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental SPDA), this new bill did not seek the technical opinion of civil society organisations or any prior consultation, in contrast to fifteen other legislative proposals contained in the statement. This is indicative of a failure to adhere to the standard procedure for its incorporation before being approved.

This is not the first attempt in which a legislative proposal has posed a threat to PIACI. As previously reported by the CIVICUS Monitor, in June 2023, the Decentralisation Commission of the Congress of the Republic declined to consider draft Law 3518/2022-CR, which proposed to amend Law 28736 (PIACI Law). The PIACI are deemed among the most vulnerable populations globally, given their exclusive dependence on natural resources within their ancestral territories. They face significant risks associated with rainforest loss, exposure to infectious diseases from outside their world, and violence linked to extractive activities.

Expression

Harassment and attacks against journalists continue

Over the latter months of 2023, several incidents involving attacks and threats against journalists were reported. Some of the most significant are detailed below:

• On 21st August, Sally Chaquilano, administrator of Radio Exitosa’s Huaral branch, north of Lima, reported that a threatening letter had been left at the radio’s headquarters. The letter criticised the radio station’s scrutiny of the local government, as well as verbally insulted and threatened the journalists with death. Chaquilano informed the National Association of Journalists (ANP) that these acts of intimidation against the radio have escalated since the new administration, led by Fernando Cárdenas Sánchez, took office in Huaral. Since then, Exitosa journalists have faced obstacles in accessing public information and restrictions in covering official activities. According to the ANP, in the past two weeks, media workers at the radio station have faced an increase in attacks, including harassment campaigns on social media and smear campaigns from other media outlets allegedly receiving official municipal advertising funds to defame Exitosa.
• On 9th October, the police arbitrarily detained journalist Marcelino Humberto Felipa Sebastián, of the digital media Chinchanito TV, for over 48 hours on the grounds of “defiance of authority” and “failure to provide appropriate identification”. He was reporting on the eviction of villagers in the Lunche community, Chincha province, southern Lima. Felipa Sebastián stated that minutes before his detention, he was subjected to aggression by police officers, who insulted him, attempted to seize his mobile phone, forced him to the ground and struck him on the backside.
• On 27th October, two unknown men on a motorbike arrived at the home of journalist Enrique Bayona from Palmeras TV, doused his vehicle with petrol, set it on fire and then left. According to the Institute of Press and Society (Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, IPYS) in Lima, this incident could be a direct response to a recent media publication by Bayona on alleged corruption within the current municipal government of Piura, a region in the north of the country.
• On 31st October, the right-wing extremist group “Los Combatientes,” led by Roger Ayachi and Flor de los Milagros Contreras, arrived at the residence of journalist Rosa María Palacios, host of the programmes “Sin Guión” and “A pensar más,” to harass and insult her with shouts and slogans using speakers and megaphones. Palacios reported that this is the third time this year that these individuals have come to her home to harass her as a result of her journalistic work. The group of around 15 people then proceeded to the offices of the media outlet IDL Reporteros to do the same as they did at Palacios’s residence. Prior to these incidents, messages circulated on social media calling on extremists to harass journalists.
• On 23rd October, Prime Minister Alberto Otárola complained that journalism was using the Transparency Law to obtain information as a basis for reporting on mismanagement within the state. Otárola reacted to a report published by the Sunday newspaper Panorama, which implicated him in an irregular hiring of a close associate. Panorama revealed an email sent from the Presidency of the Council of Ministers where Otárola offered a position to his alleged confidante in that state entity. Otárola questioned the dissemination of details of investigations that are supposed to be confidential. The Prime Minister remarked that “we are entering a ‘dangerous scenario’ where the press is seeking information ‘down to the brand of pencils used by ministers.’” As reported by IPYS, the Transparency and Access to Information law serves as a vital tool for the press dedicated to promoting transparency in public administration.
• On 26th November, while a report was being broadcast on the programme “Punto Final” on Latina TV, a journalist from the channel’s team received death threats via WhatsApp messages. The aired report uncovered a mafia breach of the Ministry of Education's database to create fake high school completion certificates. The messages threatened the journalist and his family, stating “You're done... now your family is in danger, I know who you live with.” The journalist, whose name has not been disclosed for security reasons, reported the incident to the Jesús María police station in Lima.
• On 5th December, the photojournalist Juan Zapata from Wayka.pe, an independent non-profit media outlet, was assaulted by the police while covering a protest outside the Palace of Justice against the release of Alberto Fujimori (See Introduction). The police officer struck the journalist’s face with his baton and threatened to confiscate his camera.

• On 7th December, journalist Deysi Portuguez and cameraman Pedro Goñi from RPP Noticias were removed from Plaza San Martín by citizens who harassed them with stigmatising expressions, while covering a massive march against President Boularte and Fujimori´s pardon (See Peaceful Assembly). During the incident, vinegar was thrown at them, and the cameraman was assaulted, being struck on the head with a flagpole.

Journalists face unjustified social media account suspension

At the end of September 2023, the X social media account of journalist Adrián Sarria Muñoz, who works for several media outlets, including Ojo Público and Radio Estación Wari, was unjustifiably suspended on the grounds of an alleged breach of the platform’s rules, with no further explanation as to which specific rule had been violated. Following a request through the platform’s internal mechanisms, Sarria Muñoz’s account was reinstated. However, just two weeks later, on 12th October, his account was suspended once again, and he was informed that it would be placed in “permanent read-only mode, thereby preventing him from posting or reposting content or using the ‘Like’ function.”

Although the journalist did not receive clear explanations about the reason for the measure, he detected that the sanction was received after sharing a post from the media outlet Russia Today referring to the relatives of people who died in the context of the 2022 protests that took place in Peru. Despite requesting a review of the action and an explanation for the account suspension, the platform failed to provide this information, leading to the permanent suspension of the journalist's account on 17th October 2023.

On 5th October, the platform YouTube removed a video published by the digital media company La Encerrona, run by journalist Marco Sifuentes, on the grounds that it had allegedly received massive reports containing personal information that violated its policy on harassment and cyberbullying. The video in question contained a story of high public interest regarding a congresswoman under investigation for illicit enrichment.

Following this, La Encerrona promptly appealed the decision, arguing that the video contained information of high public interest and did not violate any of YouTube’s policies. However, just nine minutes later, the platform rejected the appeal.

A new report highlights concerns regarding freedom of expression in Peru

In November 2023, Inter American Press Association (IAP) published the Chapultepec Index 2023 on freedom of expression and the press, showing a decline in these freedoms. Since the 2021 edition, the country has dropped almost 20 points in the Index and currently ranks 12th out of 22 countries.

According to the IAP, the Executive and Legislative branches exerted significant negative influence on freedom of expression and press quality for the second year in a row. Improvement efforts are urged within the Executive to prevent a trend of news coverage restriction, while vigilance is emphasised regarding legislative initiatives to prevent press self-censorship.

Peaceful Assembly

Thousands march against President Boluarte and Fujimori´s pardon

Massive mobilisations requesting the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, closure of Congress, and review of Alberto Fujimori’s pardon occurred in Lima and other cities from 7th to 9th December 2023.

The main marches were concentrated in Lima and in cities such as Arequipa, Tacna, Juliaca, Cusco, and Abancay, in southern Peru. According to France 24, protesters in Arequipa chanted “The spilled blood will never be forgotten, always standing never kneeling,” “Dina the murderer, the people repudiate you.” In Lima, the police prevented their advance to the legislative headquarters without any clashes. Some protesters also expressed outrage with shouts and banners over the release of former President Alberto Fujimori (See Introduction).

The marches called by the National Unitary Coordinating Committee of Struggle (Comando Nacional Unitario de Lucha, CNUL) were carried out peacefully except for the case of a reporter and a cameraman from RPP Noticias who was harassed by a group of demonstrators in the Plaza San Martin in Lima when they were covering the events (See Expression).

Indigenous women’s organisation accuses President Dina Boluarte of crimes against Quechua and Aymara people

On 11th November, during the IACHR’s public hearings, the National Organisation of Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Women of Peru (Organización Nacional de Mujeres Indígenas Andinas y Amazónicas del Perú, ONAMIA) submitted information to the IACHR regarding President Dina Boluarte’s accountability for alleged crimes against the Quechua and Aymara indigenous peoples of the Apurímac, Ayacucho, Puno and Cusco regions. It asserts that the fatalities were a result of excessive force used by the military and police during protests against the government following President Castillo’s ousting in late 2022 and early 2023.

During the IACHR’s public hearings, international organisations presented a joint statement expressing their concern about the erosion of democratic institutions and the rule of law in Peru, which undermines the rights to truth and justice for the gross human rights violations committed during the protests between December 2022 and March 2023.