Honoring our fallen brothers and sisters victims of the Bagua massacre of June 5 and 6, 2009.
Our condolences go to the people of Peru, to the relatives, friends and communities of the Indigenous activists and the Police members who were killed in a tragic event that should have never occurred.
Emergency Demonstrations in the United States
of Protest and Solidarity
with the Amazon Indigenous Peoples of Peru
"Amazon Indigenous peoples are not first class citizens in Peru"
Peru's president Alan Garcia, justifying his attacks on civilians using snipers and bombs, which has caused between 35 to 85 deaths and hundred of injured people.
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Protest in front of the Peruvian Embassy in Washington DC
1700 Massachusetts Ave., N.W
Washington D.C. 20036
Monday June 8, 2009
12:30 PM EST
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Protest in front of the Consulate General of Peru in Los Angeles, CA
3450 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90010
Monday June 8, 2009
3:30 PM PST
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Protest in front of the Consulate General of Peru in New York, NY
241 East 49th Street
between 2nd and 3rd Aves, Manhattan, NYC.
Wed, June 10
12:00 noon EST
IF YOU LIVE IN THE U.S.. PLEASE ORGANIZE A PROTEST AT A CONGRESSIONAL OFFICE, A FEDERAL BUILDING OR CONTACT THE CLOSEST PERUVIAN CONSULATE.
The message is simple: stop genocide, stop violence, respect human rights, avoid useless casualties, promote dialogue and respect of Indigenous peoples rights in Peru, stop using U.S. free trade policies to destroy the lives of millions of peoples in Peru, promote democracy and equality.
Contact the government of Peru
Demand to cease the State of Emergency and martial laws that are a threat to other communities that are still protesting. Demand the end of violence against Indigenous peoples of the Amazon and Andean regions, to restore peace and to restart dialogue so that Indigenous peoples can keep their lands and the environment can be protected.
Send a Message to the President of Peru:http://www.amazonwa tch.org/peru- action-alert. php President of the Council of Ministers of Peru, Yehude Simon Munaroysimon@pcm..gob. pe / Fax +51 1- 716- 87-35
President of the Congress of Peru, Javier Velásquez-Quesqué njvelasquezq@ congreso. gob.pe Embassy of Peru in Washington, DC:Telephone: (202) 833-9860 to 9869 Fax: (202) 659-8124
Ambassador Luis Valdivieso Montano
Emails:
lvaldivieso@ embassyofperu. us mtalavera@embassyof peru.usConsulate General of Peru in Los AngelesTelephone: (213) 252-5910
Emails:
jsanchez@embassyofp eru.usconperla@mpowercom. net Public Ombudsman Office of Perucentrodeatencionvir tual@defensoria. gob.pe Peruvian Embassies in your countryhttp://www.embassiesabroad.com/embassies-of/Peru List of Peruvian Consulates in the U.S.:http://www.consuladoperu.com/ Contact the U.S.. government
Request for the Obama administration to take a stand in defense of human rights in Peru and for the government of Peru to stop using the U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement FTA as a legal tool to attack the Indigenous communities.
Tell president Barack Obama, Congress members and State Secretary Hillary Clinton, that this is not the way to promote trade and progress, and that Peru must comply with the labor and environmental rights regulations included in the Peru FTA, which president Obama praised during his campaign.
Contact president Barack Obama and vicepresident Joe Biden:http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ Contact U.S. Senators:http://www.senate. gov/general/ contact_informat ion/senators_ cfm.cfm Contact U.S. House Representatives:https://writerep. house.gov/ writerep/ welcome.shtml Contact the U.S. State DepartmentYou can contact the U.S. Department of State in any of the following ways:
Main address:
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Main Switchboard:
202-647-4000TTY:1-800-877- 8339 (Federal Relay Service)
Public Communication Division: PA/PL, Rm. 2206
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20520
202-647-6575
To e-mail the U.S. Department of State, please visit the following website:
http://contact- us.state. gov/cgi-bin/ state.
Contact the UN and OAS human rights organizations
UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples indigenous@ohchr. orgUN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances wgeid@ohchr. orgUN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom expression freedex@ohchr. orgUnited Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issuesindigenous_un@ un.org IACHR Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoplescidhoea@oas. orgACHR Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Expression cidh-expresion@ oas.org Talking points
Few minutes of your time can make a huge difference!
Indigenous peoples rights must be respected by Peru, included in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted in 2007.
The right of consultations with Indigenous peoples is included at the ILO 169 Convention. This must be done with respect and honest intention of defending the rights of all Peruvian citizens and not only the interests of multinational corporations.
This massacre is a direct result of an abusive implementation of policies included in the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement, by Peru's president Alan Garcia who used it as an instrument of corporate corruption and collusion in the genocide of the Indigenous peoples.
The Peruvian government is presenting this tragedy as if it was caused by the Native peoples, which is not truth. Amazonian peoples protested without violence for almost 2 months, until the Police attacked them. All the casualties are unjustified and should have never happened.
The Peruvian media which is mostly biased and controlled by the government and corporate interests, is reporting that Police officers were kidnapped and massacred by the Indigenous peoples, but is not reporting about the abusive attack on civilians, and snipers and helicopters shooting at civilians including children. Witnesses have said that dead bodies were burned down and thrown to the rivers, and that police prevented civilians from rescuing injured protesters.
In the last 56 days, Amazonian Indigenous peoples of Peru are fighting to protect their territories, as the government of Lima has passed decrees that lease 73% of the Amazon forest and allow extractive industries corporations to take over their land, without previous consultation. The Amazonian peoples are requesting especifically for Lima to repeal those decrees.
Indigenous peoples do not oppose progress and private investment. They want to protect their land, their families and the environment, they want for corporations to respect their traditions and ways of living.
There have been years of protests since the signing of the Peru FTA by then presidents George W. Bush and Alejandro Toledo. Indigenous peoples have tried to dialogue, but the Lima government refused to listen and even prevented a national referendum in 2006.
As a way to protest and demand to be heard, the Amazon Indigenous peoples started popular strikes, oil facilities takeovers and road blockades in 8 regions of the country. This was replied by the Garcia administration by sending police and military forces to repress the protesters violently. People in Bagua responded burning down government buildings and lootings have also occurred.
Indigenous peoples value the land as a part of a our system of life, we don't own the land but we belong to it. There will not be a way for the government of Peru to impose its corporate benefiting laws because Indigenous people will defend their territories.
After the recent bloody attack, violence has slowed as today Sunday June 7. The military has taken over control of the region in conflict, but Lima has issued a warrant arrest for Alberto Pizango, the most prominent leader of the Amazon Indigenous peoples and his whereabouts are unknown at this moment.
Unfortunately, other leaders are also being prosecuted by the government and there is a possibility of future attacks of the military on other Indigenous communities.
WE MUST ACT NOW! Peru Emergency Fund
Please donate to Amazon Watch, a non profit that is working directly with the Indigenous peoples in strike. This fund will be used for medical relief for the wounded, media campaign led by indigenous organizations, and legal defense for those being charged.
http://www.amazonwa tch.org/peru- protests.. php UPDATES: links to stay updated with the current situation in Peru:
[Eng] English [Esp] Spanish
Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana – AIDESEP is the leading Amazon Indigenous peoples rights organization in Peru. [Esp]
http://www.aidesep. org.peCoordinadora Andina de Organizaciones Indigenas - CAOI [Esp]
http://www3. minkandina. org/ Amazon Watch - a non profit working directly with Amazon peoples in strike: [Eng]
http://www.amazonwatch.orgEnlance Nacional – an independent internet news channel in Peru with correspondents in the Bagua region. [Esp]
http://enlacenacional.com/Servindi - Indigenous news from Peru. [Esp]
http://www.servindi.org/ Facebook group "Solidarity with Peru / Solidaridad con Perú / Solidarité avec Pérou"
http://www.facebook .com/group. php?gid=89605273 186&ref=ts Q'orianka Kilcher On-Q Initiative:
http://www.takepart.com/blog/author/qoriankakilcher/ Mp3 Interview with Indigenous leader Tupac Enrique Acosta who just returned from Peru:
http://www.7genfund.org/current_actions/calls-to-action/special-peru-crisis-news-update-interview-with-tupac-enrique/ Peruanista - a bilingual blog about Peru, written in the U.S.. with translations of news coming from the emergency regions. [Esp] [Eng]
http://peruanista. blogspot. com/2009/ 06/alert- massacre- in-peru-police- shoots-at. html Freshman Senators Stand Against Modified NAFTA Expansion Politics of Pushing Trade Agreements Reflected in Peru Trade Vote of New Members. [Eng]
http://www.citizenstrade.org/pdf/CTC_Senate_Peru_4.pdf Twenty one organizations of Immigrant rights advocates, unions, civil rights and faith-based organizations signed a letter to the US Congress opposing the US-Peru FTA and warning of threats to Indigenous peoples and the Amazon forest. [Eng]
http://peruanista. blogspot. com/2007/ 11/urgent- please-call- congress- to-stop-us. html Trade Deal with Peru Fails to Measure Up for Development. [Eng]
http://www..oxfamamerica.org/newsandpublications/press_releases/archive2007/trade-deal-with-peru-fails-to-measure-up-for-development Updates on Abya Yala North Indigenous Solidarity actions, contact Tupac Enrique Acosta, Yaotachcauh Tlahtokan Nahuacalli
www.tonatierra. org / email:
chantlaca@tonatierr a.org Please send this information
Forward this to all your contacts, we are trying to spread the word and create awareness.
In defense of life, human rights and our mother earth
we demand respect for the rights of the Indigenous peoples and for the preservation of our planet!
