A sector of Peruvian Congress with ties to the logging and fossil fuel industries presented a bill, which, if passed, would lead to certain extermination of the country’s Indigenous Peoples in voluntary isolation.
The bill was presented in November of 2022 in the midst of social upheaval in the country. The proposed Law would eliminate the recognition, and therefore the rights, of the 25 indigenous groups in a state of voluntary isolation or initial contact. Furthermore, the Law seeks to overturn the indigenous reserves that have already been established for these Peoples, thus opening their territories to extractive industries. It also threatens to prevent the creation of four other reserves that have not yet been recognized.
Historically, these Peoples have been ‘contacted’ many times—with most such ‘contacts’ being characterized by violence instigated by industries, missionaries and the government. But this Law would take this violence to a much more worrying level. AIDESEP, the largest national organization of Indigenous Peoples, has strongly condemned the bill, and is calling on civil society in general to denounce this proposed Law—as it could mean genocide for these peoples. You can sign a petition by the organization, Survival, to stop this bill: in Spanish and in English. Read about this bill in English, here.