Peruvian police attack an indigenous protester 5-9-2009

Following Peruvian President Alan Garcia’s order to begin clearing, by force, the protests and blockades that have paralyzed the country’s Amazon region for nearly two months, police launched a violent raid early this morning on unarmed protesters at a roadblock outside of Bagua.

The raid began at 2am while protesters were still sleeping, and began in earnest at 5 am with the firing of live ammunition and the dropping of teargas from helicopters. Protesters launched a counterattack, seizing guns from the police officers and returning fire. As of this posting, 28 indigenous civilians and 10 police officers are reported dead.

Police and government officials are falsely claiming that police acted in self defense and that the protesters were armed, violent and terrorists.

Indigenous people have been mobilized throughout the Amazon since April 9, demanding the repeal of 10 laws that would open up their territories to increasing mineral, oil, gas and timber exploitation. Two of the laws have been declared unconstitutional by a congressional panel, but Garcia’s APRA party continues to block the Congress from repealing them.

The Interethnic Development Association of the Peruvian Rainforest (AIDESP), the coordinator of the mobilization that represents 1,200 indigenous communities, has called for a national strike beginning June 11.

International solidarity is also requested, from letters of protest to the Peruvian government to urgent calls for the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations for Indigenous Peoples, Amnesty International, Survival International, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the International Labor Organization [ILO Convention 169]) to immediately dispatch international observers to the region.