Indigenous and human rights organisations denounce criminalisation of human rights defender by police and the palm oil industry in the Peruvian Amazon

This week more than fifty Indigenous and human rights organisations and dozens of individuals from across Peru and internationally issued a statement condemning attempts by the Peruvian National Police and the Ocho Sur palm oil group to criminalise human rights defender Linda Vigo for her work to defend Indigenous peoples’ rights in the Ucayali region of the Peruvian Amazon.

The original statement (in Spanish) was published by the Institute for Legal Defence (IDL).

STATEMENT

We deplore the slanderous accusations against human rights lawyer Linda Vigo and condemn criminalisation by the Peruvian National Police favouring palm oil agribusiness in the Amazon

In relation to the criminal complaint filed by the Department for the Laundering of Proceeds of Common Crimes (DIVILA DPC.D2) of the Peruvian National Police against the lawyer and human rights defender Linda Carol Vigo Escalante for allegedly committing the crime of money laundering to the detriment of the State, the Indigenous and human rights movement at both the national and international level point out the following:

1. We support and recognise the commendable work for the legal defence of the rights of Indigenous peoples carried out by the lawyer Linda Carol Vigo Escalante in the region of Ucayali in the Peruvian Amazon. Her long professional career has linked her to prestigious institutions such as the Federation of Native Communities of Ucayali and Affluents (FECONAU), the Institute for Legal Defence (IDL), Forest Peoples Programme (FPP), the National Human Rights Coordinating Committee (CNDDHH) and the Human Rights Commission of the Apostolic Vicariate of Ucayali. She is undoubtedly committed to the welfare of Indigenous peoples and the protection of Amazonian forests.

2. We repudiate the conduct of the Department for the Laundering of Proceeds of Common Crimes (DIVILA DPC.D2) of the Peruvian National Police, as it seeks to criminalise the practice of law in favour of the most vulnerable social groups, such as Indigenous peoples. In the report that this police body sent to the Public Prosecutor's Office, which is the basis of the complaint, it is evident that the police have been opposed to the human rights lawyer’s work, as well as the monitoring and harassment that she has been suffering from, reaching the point of interfering in her personal life.

3. We publicly denounce the evident bias of the Department for the Laundering of Proceeds of Common Crimes (DIVILA DPC.D2) of the Peruvian National Police for promoting the palm oil business, together with the company Ocho Sur P S.A.C. in the most open unlawfulness. We would like to remind the public that the Ocho Sur Group is allegedly linked to the mega-case of illegal land trafficking and deforestation for the cultivation of oil palm, which is currently being investigated by the Specialised Corporate Prosecutor's Office against Organised Crime.

4. We welcome the decision of the Second Supra-Provincial Criminal Prosecutor Specialised in Money Laundering and Loss of Ownership Crimes for quickly dismissing the complaint against the human rights lawyer. By declaring that there is no reason to open a preliminary investigation, it demonstrates the arbitrariness of the police, as indicated in the prosecutor's decision to definitively close the case.

5. We demand that the Inspector General's Office of the National Police of Peru take the corresponding administrative and criminal actions to sanction those responsible for the complaint against the human rights lawyer, as well as the monitoring and harassment she has been subjected to. We also demand an exhaustive and complete investigation by the Department for the Laundering of Proceeds of Common Crimes (DIVILA DPC.D2) so that public resources are never again used to criminalise the defence of human rights.

6. We demand that the Ombudsman's Office and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights adopt the necessary protective actions in favour of Linda Carol Vigo Escalante at the national and local levels, within the framework of the Early Warning Procedure of the Intersectoral Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders. We also announce that we will alert international human rights organisations to this situation to obtain guarantees of non-recurrence of these events.

7. Finally, we renew our firm commitment to continue denouncing the impacts of environmental criminality in the oil palm business which has caused so much damage to the ecosystems of our Amazon and to the Indigenous peoples who depend on it for their livelihoods. No accusation, no matter how slanderous it may be, will stop our struggles to live in a country that is more just, caring, and respectful of Mother Earth.

Lima and Pucallpa, 26 October 2022

Organisations

1. Amazon Watch
2. Asociación Civil Japiqay, Memoria y Ciudadanía
3. Asociación de Derechos Humanos del Sur (ADHESUR)
4. Asociación Fe y Derechos Humanos (FEDERH)
5. Asociación Nacional de Centros (ANC)
6. Asociación Nacional de Familiares de Secuestrados, Detenidos y Desaparecidos del Perú (ANFASEP)
7. Asociación por la Vida y la Dignidad Humana (APORVIDHA)
8. Asociación Proyecto Amigo
9. Asociación Tiempo de Verdad y Justicia (TIVEJU)
10. Centro Amazónico de Antropología y Aplicación Práctica (CAAAP)
11. Centro de Desarrollo Étnico (CEDET)
12. Centro de Desarrollo Humano (CEDEH)
13. Centro de Derechos y Desarrollo (CEDAL)
14. Centro de Iniciativas para el Desarrollo Humano (CEIDHU)
15. Centro de la Mujer Peruana Flora Tristán
16. Centro Loyola Ayacucho
17. Central Nacional de Mujeres de Sectores Populares “Micaela Bastidas”
18. Colectivo por la Igualdad de Género de Piura
19. Comisión de Defensa de los Derechos Humanos de Pasco (CODEH Pasco)
20. Comisión de Derechos Humanos (COMISEDH)
21. Comisión de Derechos Humanos de Pucallpa (CODEH Pucallpa)
22. Comisión de Derechos Humanos del Alto Huallaga (CODHAH)
23. Comisión de Solidaridad, Desarrollo y Justicia (COSDEJ)
24. Comisión Episcopal de Acción Social (CEAS)
25. Comité de Derechos Humanos de Moyobamba (CODEH Moyobamba)
26. Comité de Emprendimientos Indígenas de Chazuta
27. Consejo del Pueblo Shipibo Konibo Xetebo (COSHICOX)
28. Cooperativa Agroforestal Shipibo Konibo (COSHICOOP)
29. Coordinadora de Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas de la Región San Martín (CODEPISAM)
30. Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos (CNDDHH)
31. Derechos Humanos y Medio Ambiente (DHUMA)
32. Derechos Humanos sin Fronteras (DHSF)
33. En Movimiento
34. Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)
35. Federación de Comunidades Nativas de Ucayali y Afluentes (FECONAU)
36. Federación de Pueblos Indígenas Kechwa Chazuta Amazonía (FEPIKECHA)
37. Forest Peoples Programme (FPP)
38. Fundación Ecuménica para el Desarrollo y la Paz (FEDEPAZ)
39. Fundación para la Justicia y el Estado Democrático de Derecho (FJEDD, México)
40. Grupo de Iniciativa Nacional por los Derechos del Niño (GIN)
41. Grupo de Trabajo contra la Corrupción (GTCC)
42. International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
43. Instituto de Defensa Legal (IDL)
44. Instituto de Promoción y Educación Popular – Comisión de Justicia Social de Chimbote (IPEP-CJS)
45. Instituto Peruano de Educación en Derechos Humanos y la Paz (IPEDEHP)
46. Instituto Regional para la Paz (IREPAZ Huánuco)
47. Instituto Sur Andino de Derechos Humanos (ISADH Puno)
48. Movimiento Jatarishun Huánuco
49. Movimiento Manuela Ramos
50. Paz y Esperanza
51. Red para la Infancia y la Familia
52. Resguardo Indígena de Origen Colonial Cañamomo Lomaprieta (Colombia)
53. Servicio Educativo para el Desarrollo y la Solidaridad (SEDYS Trujillo)
54. Sinchi Warmikuna
55. Warmis Llutadoras
56. Warmi Siradora

Individuals

1. Germán Vargas Farías, DNI 07563554
2. Rosalía Chauca Sabroso, DNI 08863940
3. César Mariano Figueroa Vergara, DNI 07166347
4. Ayesha Dávila Torres, DNI 45359247
5. Jessica Huertas Campoverde, DNI 10788477
6. Irma Pflucker, DNI 42612713
7. Diana Miloslavic, DNI 07641882
8. Julia Carmen Espinoza Bernal, DNI 2561480
9. José Bayardo Chata Pacoricona, DNI 46282223
10. Mariela Belleza Salazar, DNI 40070549
11. Libia Palestina Sulca Sánchez, DNI 10792896
12. Mónica Lyzbeth Miraval Berrospi, DNI 07604165
13. Percy Eloy Mango Calcina, DNI 01560133
14. Ana María Watson Peña, DNI 09143591
15. Virginia Vargas Valente, DNI 07722574
16. Victoria Juárez Upiachihua, DNI 09249764
17. Nury García Córdova, DNI  08188747
18. Rocío Pilar Ruiz Crespo, DNI 22517819
19. Roger Alfonso Mendoza Contreras, DNI 06187787
20. María Emma Mannarelli, DNI 08224795
21. Margarita Nancy Pomajambo Fernández, DNI 07577894
22. Felicita Lourdes Chávez Morey, DNI 09049249
23. Norbel Mondragón Herrera, DNI 16429977
24. Martha Gamarra Castañeda, DNI 40882047
25. Segundo Jara Montejo, DNI 22981745
26. Gabriela Susana Flores Chávez, DNI 42135069
27. Cruz Silva del Carpio, DNI 40632855
28. María Elena Alegre Chalco, DNI 29537915
29. Jane García Gavilán, DNI 40726293
30. Cecilia Olea Mauleon, DNI 07733560
31. Edith Goytendía Matos, DNI 19803837
32. Silvia Alayo Dávila, DNI 32939752
33. Luis Álvaro Másquez Salvador, DNI 72398517
34. Ronald Suarez Maynas, DNI 00120777
35. Olga Cristina del Rocío Gavancho León, DNI 45880926
36. Matías Pérez Ojeda del Arco, DNI 42528604
37. Angela Paola Mera Mejía, DNI 77201582
38. Adán Junior Cassia Córdova, DNI 48299234
39. Victor Sebastian Delgado Cespedes, DNI 74059680
40. Paulina Quispe Castillo, DNI 09255819

Read the original statement in Spanish on the website of IDL.