Peru:
The silent genocide of the last uncontacted indigenous groups
The
Peruvian government is not only responsible for the open repression
of Amazonian peoples which it is currently carrying out, but also
for the silent genocide of the last uncontacted indigenous groups
still living in isolation within their ancestral territories.
As
documented in a recent Survival International report, one such case
is happening with indigenous peoples living along the Envira River
in the Peruvian Province of Ucayali. Illegal loggers have been invading
territory belonging to uncontacted Indians in the south-east of
Peru, forcing them to flee across the border into nearby Brazil,
where they are likely to come into conflict with other, similarly
isolated, Indians already living in Brazil.
The
loggers are mainly seeking mahogany and cedar. Peru boasts some
of the last commercially-viable mahogany trees anywhere in the world.
According to José Carlos Meirelles, head of the Brazilian
Indian Affairs Department’s post in the area, mahogany exploration
in the headwaters of the Jurua, Purus and Envira (rivers in Peru),
have caused the forced migration of indigenous groups in Peru.
Despite
the abundant evidence about the presence of these isolated indigenous
groups, Peru’s government has failed to publicly accept that uncontacted
Indians are fleeing from Peru to Brazil. Peru’s president, Alan
Garcia, has even suggested the tribes do not exist.
Another
case is that of the Napo-Tigre Indians in the Province of Loreto.
Multinational oil companies are working inside the territories of
at least two uncontacted tribes living between the Napo and Tigre
rivers in northern Peru.
One
of them, Perenco (an Anglo-French company), recently revealed its
intention to send hundreds of workers into the region. According
to the company, one oil well has already been drilled.
The
area where Perenco is working is in the middle of a proposed reserve
for the Indians. Perenco’s presence in the region is opposed by
indigenous organisations in Peru which have filed lawsuits against
the company.
The
identities of the uncontacted tribes living in the area are not
clear, but one is believed to be a sub-group of the Waorani, and
another is known as the ‘Pananujuri’. Perenco denies the tribes
exist.
Perenco’s
chairman, Francois Perrodo, recently met Peru’s president, Alan
Garcia. Days later, a law was passed declaring Perenco’s work in
the region a “national necessity”.
Other
companies involved in the Napo-Tigre area are Repsol-YPF, ConocoPhillips,
the Colombian state oil company Ecopetrol, and the Brazilian state
oil company Petrobras.
It
is important to stress that uncontacted tribes face two principal
threats to their survival. By far the greatest is their lack of
immunity to common Western diseases such as influenza, chicken pox,
measles, and a host of respiratory diseases. Even where ‘first contact’
between an isolated tribe and outsiders is carefully managed, it
is common for significant numbers of tribespeople to die in the
months following contact.
Where
such encounters are not managed, with medical plans in place, the
entire tribe, or a large proportion of it, can be wiped out. Such
catastrophes have occurred repeatedly in the Amazon, and not just
in the distant past: in 1996, for example, at least half the Murunahua
Indians died after they were contacted by illegal mahogany loggers.
The other key threat is simply violence: in several of the cases
outlined in this report the tribes people face gangs of heavily-armed
loggers who are likely to shoot them on sight.
By
refusing to acknowledge the existence of these groups and by allowing
and even promoting the entry of loggers and oil companies into their
territories, the Peruvian government is guilty of genocide.
Article
based on information from Survival International’s Report “One Year
On. Uncontacted tribes face extinction”, May 29, 2009
http://assets.survival-international.org/documents/14/One_Year_On_Survival_Report.pdf
