wfn.org | WCC NEWS: Peru: WCC laments loss of life, condemns attempts to abrogate indigenous peoples' rights

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World Council of Churches - News Release

Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org

>For immediate release - 10/06/2009 16:58:56

PERU: WCC LAMENTS LOSS OF LIFE, CONDEMNS ATTEMPTS TO ABROGATE
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' RIGHTS

The recent incidents of violence in Bagua, Peru are "but one
instance of a series of government actions to abrogate the rights
of the Indigenous peoples of the Peruvian Amazon over land and
resources", stated the World Council of Churches (WCC) general
secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia in a 9 June letter to President
Alan García Pérez.

Expressing "deepest concern over the loss of life and violent
displacement of the indigenous Awajun and Wambis peoples in
Bagua", Kobia urged the Peruvian government to order the
"immediate cessation of violent repression against indigenous
people" and the launch of a "meaningful dialogue" in order to
"peacefully and justly resolve the conflict". 

After several weeks of protests by indigenous peoples in the
Amazonian region over government plans for gas and oil
exploration on what they consider their ancestral lands, clashes
between protesters and police took place in the town of Bagua
Grande on 5 June. Some 30 protesters as well as about 24 police
officers have been killed, according to reports. 

In his letter to García, Kobia deplored the "government's
inability to resolve the conflict" by peaceful means. He also
repudiated the violence and called for "an independent
internationally lead investigation", expressing alarm about
"reports of attempts to dispose of the bodies and cover up the
true extent of the loss of life". 

According to the WCC general secretary, the "attacks in Bagua
contravene the spirit and letter of the United Nations
Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the
provisions of international law". 

Full text of the WCC general secretary letter to the President
of Peru
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=6852

Additional information:Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507
6363media@wcc-coe.org

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith,
witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical
fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings
together 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches
representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110
countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic
Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from
the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.