Open letter to the Congress of the Republic of Peru for the debate and approval of its Law on the Recognition of the Autonomous Organisation for Indigenous Amazonian Security

This open letter requests that the Congress of the Republic of Peru prioritise the debate and approval of Bill No. 2062/2021-CR, which proposes the recognition of the autonomous organisation of the Amazonian Indigenous Security (SIA), during the next plenary session of the Congress on 23 June. This bill risks being shelved if it is not debated and approved this week. 

Activities such as illegal logging, fishing, and mining, land trafficking, and other territorial threats have been affecting Indigenous territories in the Peruvian Amazon creating an unprecedented wave of attacks, whilst the state has repeatedly demonstrated its inability to provide their protection. However, Indigenous Peoples organized through their Indigenous guards and other self-protection mechanisms, are safeguarding their territories, albeit without legal recognition, leaving them vulnerable to criminalisation for carrying out their autonomous collective protection activities. 

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