Peru: Wampis Nation files a complaint against oil company GeoPark for increasing risks of COVID-19

The Autonomous Territorial Government of the Wampis Nation filed a criminal complaint against the oil company GeoPark Peru S.A.C for increasing the risk of COVID-19 infection amongst the Wampis communities of the Morona River by continuing its operations during the health crisis.

Following the declaration of the National State of Emergency on March 15 as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak in Peru, the Wampis Nation took measures to isolate their communities and close the borders of their territories, making use of the right to autonomy and self-determination, duly protected by national and international regulations.

However, the company GeoPark Peru S.A.C, which has been awarded 75% of the "Development Project of the Northwest Area (Situche Central) of Lot 64" and an extension of 761,501 hectares, continued working in the Morona River basin, Loreto. These actions by GeoPark are irresponsible because they expose communities to possible contagion and violate indigenous strategies to safeguard life in the face of the advance of COVID-19.

Furthermore, they transgress the spirit of the State of National Emergency, where, according to Supreme Decree 044-2020-PCM, the prohibition of social contact is intended to "efficiently protect the life and health of the population, reducing the possibility of an increase in the number of people affected by COVID-19, without affecting the provision of basic services, as well as the health and nutrition of the population." In this sense, any of the exceptions to the quarantine should not endanger the right to life and health, especially in the case of vulnerable populations such as the Wampis Nation.

Consequently, the Autonomous Territorial Government of the Wampis Nation (GTANW), which represents the 85 Wampis communities in the Kanus (Santiago) and Kankaim (Morona) Rivers in the departments of Amazonas and Loreto, presented a criminal complaint to the Provincial Criminal Prosecutor's Office of Datem del Marañón province in the prevention of crime against Santiago Cichero, General Manager of GeoPark Peru S.A.C.; Nelson Soto, Manager of Environment and Community Relations; and the company GeoPark S.A.C, for endangering the Wampis population of Morona during the pandemic.

The complaint was received by the Public Prosecutor's Office on 26 May and is based on the Peruvian Penal Code (Legislative Decree No. 635) for crime against life, body and health, in the form of exposure to danger of death or serious and imminent harm to the health of persons; culpable homicide; violation of sanitary measures and spread of dangerous or contagious disease; and the spread of dangerous or contagious disease, endangering the native Wampis communities of the Morona River basin.

"They should remove their personnel, they should no longer be moving around the Wampis' territory. These workers should be in their own homes. Why have they stayed there in the Wampis territory? [...] What happens if one of them gets infected and this creates a problem by infecting the communities? The responsibility will lie with GeoPark and the national government", Wrays Perez, Pamuk of GTANW.

The criminal complaint comes after the GTANW made two public statements on 30 April and 12 May, demanding that GeoPark cease its operations within Wampis territory and withdraw its personnel from the Peruvian army's Sargento Puño Base Camp (CBSP). The Block 64 Project would involve the transportation of the oil to the CBSP, where it would be stored in tanks. Barges would then carry the oil along the Morona River to the Morona Pumping Station, owned by Petroperú.

It should be noted that the Block 64 Project does not have the consent of the Wampis Nation, nor has it been legally approved by the Peruvian Government. On GeoPark's detailed Environmental Impact Study (February 2019) the Ministry of the Environment noted the need for greater precision on the existence of environmental liabilities in the project's areas of influence, and the impact on the native communities' economic activities involving natural resources, among other observations. In addition, GeoPark withdrew its Impact Study from the Global Environmental Certification process in June 2019.

The complaint made by the GTANW calls on the Provincial Prosecutor's Office to verify and summon the accused, and to demand that GeoPark immediately halt all its activities in the CBSP and in the vicinity of Lot 64. It requests that GeoPark withdraw from Wampis territory, due to the imminent danger of violation of the fundamental rights of the indigenous people.

Photo credits: GTANW