Legal win for community of Santa Clara de Uchunya, Peru

Breaking news: Historic legal decision for Peru's indigenous peoples as the nation's highest court agrees to resolve the lawsuit filed by the Shipibo community of Santa Clara de Uchunya.

The lawsuit filed in 2016 challenged the longstanding failure of the Peruvian government to title the community's traditional lands and then permit their illegal acquisition by a palm oil company. Since 2012 over 7000 hectares of the community's forests have been replaced with plantations while community members who have challenged the operations have been subjected to violence and death threats. The decision overturns the perverse ruling by courts in the region that without a land title the court was unable to assess whether the community's lands had been unlawfully acquired. This in itself sets a vital precedent for Peruvian indigenous communities many of whom lack any form of official recognition of their traditional lands. The Constitutional Tribunal will now resolve the case and has given the regional government of Ucayali and the palm oil company 10 days to submit their defense.

Read more here and see the resolution attached below (Spanish only)