The General Assembly of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, at its 17th Congress in Hanoi, Vietnam, having received a number of urgent reports of acts of repression perpetrated by the government of Peru against members of the indigenous communities of the Peruvian Amazon;
Noting with grave concern that such acts of repression have resulted in the deaths of many civilians and police officers, due to the government’s decision to resort to acts of state terrorism and illegality under international law rather than pursuing dialogue and negotiation;
Considering that the Peruvian government is demonstrating its intention to displace the indigenous people of the Amazon from their ancestral lands in contravention of international law, and to impose upon those people the privatisation of the Peruvian Amazon region under provisions of the Free Trade Agreement concluded with the United States;
Now therefore, the General Assembly of the IADL
1. Demands that the Peruvian government implement Covenant 169 of the International Labor Organisation, ratified by Peru, article 6 of which establishes that governments must consult with the people, through appropriate procedures, regarding any decision affecting the use of land or territory which they inhabit and that, in consequence, since the people of the Peruvian Amazon were never consulted, Legislative Decrees No, 1090 (“Forest Law”) and No. 1064, promoting the use of forested lands damaging to the environment, must be repealed forthwith. Both of these decrees have been repudiated by the indigenous populations who are struggling to maintain their cultures, protect their environment and continue to serve as the guardians of one of the world’s most important natural resources;
2. Rejects as illegitimate the arrest warrant issued by the Peruvian government against indigenous leader Alberto Pisango and expresses the solidarity of all members or the IADL General Assembly with this indigenous leader and messenger from the Assembly of the Amazonian peoples;
3. Demands that the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights and the United Nations call for missions to investigate these disturbing events;
4. Demands that the government of Peru immediately cease all acts of brutal repression against the indigenous peoples and respect their human rights;
5. Calls upon its member organisations to take all appropriate actions, including staging demonstrations before Peruvian embassies in order to show their solidarity with the indigenous peoples of the Peruvian Amazon.
Download resolution: Emergency resolution on the situation in the Peruvian Amazon.doc (25 KB)