In a statement, ten human rights groups called for justice for the deaths of Edwin Chota, Jorge Ríos, Leoncio Quintisima and Francisco. The reason for this was the lifting of the 28-year prison sentence against two timber entrepreneurs who were the intellectual perpetrators of the Pinedo massacre last August.
The so-called “Guardians of the Amazon,” as the local leaders who watch over their legally protected lands and denounce the predatory presence of poachers, drug traffickers and other lawbreakers are known, were tortured and murdered near the jungle border with Brazil on September 1, 2014.
The statement shows that the State Department and the judiciary acted “biased, delayed and inefficient” in the case by convicting the loggers only of minor crimes.
He reiterates that the annulment of the conviction, which returns the trial to its initial phase, represents “a severe blow to justice, to the memory and dignity of the victims and their families” and to their rights to truth, justice and reparation.
It also points out that there were delays and irregularities in the proceedings, “despite the alleged perpetrators having links to illegal activities such as drug trafficking, illegal mining, land trafficking or illegal logging”.
It also calls for the Peruvian state to fulfill its international obligations to protect and ensure the human rights of environmental defenders and to prevent, investigate and punish acts of violence and criminalization they suffer.
The declaration calls on the international community to support and accompany indigenous and human rights organizations that defend the environment in Peru.
He recalled that the victims of the massacre had reported death threats without receiving state protection measures, pointing out that there were other unpunished crimes after the massacre, such as that of local leader Arbildo Melendez, assassinated in 2020.
The international declaration also supported indigenous peoples’ initiatives to protect themselves against the multiple deadly threats they face.
The Inter-Ethnic Association of the Peruvian Jungle (Aidesep), which brings together associations of Amazonian communities, also denounced that threats to indigenous leaders defending their land extend to other jungle areas.
The head of Aidesep, Julio Cusurichi, said that he and other of his colleagues were being threatened, but warned that they would not be able to intimidate them since the association has a structure made up of nine regional organizations, 109 local level groups and 3,439 indigenous communities.
“We are aware that we may be on the list of dead at some point, but that will not intimidate us,” he said.
ode/mrs