Indigenous peoples of Perú who pertain to the Asociación Interetnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana (AIDESEP) have declared a state of permanent emergency after the tragic assassination of Mariano Isacama Feliciano, leader of the Kakataibo people.
This action was taken in response to the inaction of the government in the face of the increasing violence faced by Indigenous people protecting their ancestral territories, says AIDESEP.
Isacama was from the Indigenous community of Nativa de Puerto Azul, located in the province of Manu, Madre de Dios, in the Peruvian Amazon, and was found dead on the banks of the Yurac river after going missing twenty-four days ago.
The Indigenous leader had alerted the community and human rights organizations of previous threats against him prior to his disappearance. According to the autopsy report, his death was caused by a bullet wound, as well as showing signs of torture.
Isacama had sustained a persistent struggle in defense of the Amazon and against illegal mining and logging activities in the region, alongside the communities that pertain to the AIDESEP.
AIDESEP is an organization which unites Indigenous peoples of the Peruvian Amazon through its nine regional base organizations which have expressed profound discontent for the lack of justice for victims and the continued impunity surrounding these crimes.
The Indigenous Amazonian communities have announced that, with the lack of justice and security provided by the state, they themselves will prepare to take other measures. The communities have announced that they’ve been obligated to exercise their right to legitimate self-defense and “utilize the means in the same proportion with which they attack us,” with complete responsibility falling on “the government for the consequences,” says the communique.
La Federación Nativa de Comunidades Kakataibo also warns that a new practice of organized crime in the region is to let the bodies decompose, so as to disappear evidence and delay investigations.
With this case, the National Coordinator of Human Rights registers twenty-five environmental defenders and Indigenous leaders who have been disappeared and murdered since 2020. Five of the victims were from the Kakataibo people. In 2021, two members of the community were disappeared and their whereabouts are still unknown. The violence against Indigenous peoples has expanded in recent years in the Amazon regions of Ucayali, Huánuco, Pasco and Junín.
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