Peru: Five Lives Claimed During Peaceful Protest

The ITUC has joined with its affiliated organisations in Peru in denouncing the brutal police repression that claimed the lives of five demonstrators affiliated to the Regional Front of Cajamarca and the CUT Peru during a peaceful protest on 3 and 4 July.

The people of the Cajamarca department are fighting to defend their natural sources of water, which are threatened by the Conga mining project of the U.S. company Yanacocha-Newmont. The main point of contention is the destruction of four lagoons that will have to be dried out as part of the project, to facilitate the task of extracting gold and copper from the subsoil. The plan is to build a number of artificial lagoons in their stead to guarantee the water supply.

In a separate incident, Marco Arana, a former priest and leader of the Tierra y Libertad (Land and Freedom) organisation, was violently arrested by 12 police officers for "disturbing the peace". Arana was simply talking to two people when the police detained him.

"It is highly regrettable that Ollanta Humala’s government is not fulfilling its electoral pledges. The government is responsible for 15 deaths related to social conflicts. The authorities must sit down to talks with the company and the communities affected by the Conga project, ensuring respect for the rights of all those concerned," underlined ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow.

In a letter to the Peruvian authorities, the ITUC urged the president of Peru to investigate these murders and to prosecute those responsible with the full force of the law.

For more information, please contact the ITUC Press Department on +32 2 224 0204 or +32 476 62 10 18

Photo: Andy Hares