Killed for protecting their land from mining
On June 5th, World Environment Day, Peruvian security forces killed at least two dozen indigenous people protesting to protect their lands around Bagua in the Peruvian Amazon. In the violence, nine policemen perished as well. The protestors were opposing the Peruvian government’s opening of the region to oil and gas drilling and mining — supposedly conditions of the Peru-US trade agreement.
TAKE ACTION Thus far, the U.S. government has been silent. Act now and tell Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to urge the Peruvian government to end the violence immediately. The U.S. must help resolve the conflict by publicly clarifying that the US-Peru trade agreement cannot undermine indigenous peoples’ rights. Call on the U.S. government to urge Peru to ensure that human rights and indigenous peoples’ rights are respected.