Peru: Five years on from Bagua violence and still no justice for victims
June 5, 2014
Peru: Five years on from Bagua violence and still no justice for victims
The Peruvian authorities must ensure that all those suspected of criminal responsibility in the tragic events in Bagua are brought to justice, said Amnesty International today on the fifth anniversary of the violence which left 33 people dead.
Demonstrators and police were killed when police clashed with Indigenous People protesting against a series of laws allowing for the exploitation of natural resources on ancestral land in 2009. During the violence 23 officers lost their lives along with 10 civilians. Hundreds more were injured. So far only protesters have been brought to trial.
“If the Peruvian authorities are truly committed to bringing to justice those suspected of criminal responsibility for these deaths, it is not enough to punish the protesters and ignore possible abuses by the police,” said Guadalupe Marengo, Amnesty International’s Americas Deputy Programme Director.
Violence broke out on 5 June 2009 when police moved in to break up a roadblock on a stretch of road known as the Curva del Diablo near Bagua in the Amazonas department, Peru.
More:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/news-item/peru-five-years-on-from-bagua-violence-and-still-no-justice-for-victims
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Peru: A Year and a Half after the Bagua Massacre: the Strategy of “The Leopard” (1)
By Frederica Barclay
Bagua shocked the nation because of its tragic and needless death toll that resulted from the disproportionate and poor handling of a military operation, for which no one has assumed responsibility, and because it showed that the government of Alan García had attempted to surreptitiously bring down the constitutional regime pertaining to the Amazonian Indigenous Peoples’ rights to favor big private interests. After the events, the outrage of the citizens was proportional to the magnitude of the shock. The reaction of various bodies in charge of overseeing compliance with international human rights treaties, of which Peru is a signatory, was also immediate, and the country was subject to very serious criticism.
It was hoped that the government would mend its ways. That seemed to be the case when four roundtables were created with the purpose of implementing the proposals that arose therefrom. Nevertheless, a year and a half later, it has become evident that it attempted to apply the strategy of “The Leopard”: “if we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change” (2).
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=405x47132
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From L Coyote:
Perú's Propaganda Spot = Bagua Massacre
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x323648
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