Historic legal victory for Awajún and Wampis peoples in Peru

Awajún and Wampis peoples win historic legal victory as Peruvian court orders the suspension of all oil and gas activities in Block 116 for failure to consult them and secure their consent

This historic and definitive legal judgment upholds decision of the court of first instance in March 2017 which was appealed by the government. It is the first case of its kind in Peru where the right of indigenous amazonian peoples to prior consultation and consent in the context of oil and gas exploitation has been definitively upheld by a court. The case was filed by a collective of Wampis and Awajun indigenous organisations including ODECOFROC and CEPAWW and supported by the Institute of Legal Defense (IDL) and CAAAP and the Gobierno Territorial Autonomo de la Nacion Wampis.

The court ordered:

►The suspension of all oil and gas activities in Lot 116

► The suspension of all licenses for exploitation and exploration of oil and gas in the area.

► Implementation of a prior consultation process to guarantee the rights of Awajún and Wampis communities

► The Ministry of Energy and Mines and Perupetro, the state oil company to develop a new Environmental Impact Assessment which must be consulted with communities who live in the area affected by the project. 

The judgment sets a historic precedent in Peru where to date only one of the country’s oil and gas concessions has been subjected to a formal consultation process with its indigenous peoples. 

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