Peru indigenous community leader calls for state of emergency against illegal mining News
JYB Devot, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Peru indigenous community leader calls for state of emergency against illegal mining

The president of the Autonomous Territorial Government of the Wampís Nation (GTANW) in Peru on Monday denounced the use of local children as “human shields” to protect illegal mining activities and demanded the declaration of a state of emergency, according to local media.

The Wampis Indigenous Nation has more than 10,000 inhabitants. In 2015, the nation formed its Autonomous Territorial Government to manage and protect the territory, which covers lowland rainforest across the Santiago/Kanus and Morona/Kankaim river basins in the northern Peruvian Amazon. Peru is the leading producer of gold, zinc, tin, lead and molybdenum in Latin America. However, long-term illegal mining has posed significant threats to the local environment and human rights.

Teófilo Kukush Pati, president of the Wampis Indigenous Nation, pointed out that when the state police and armed forces carried out interdictions, such as destroying goods, materials and supplies, illegal miners would gather community children between five and 10 years old to defend their mining operations. The leader also reported that the illegal mining companies threaten to kill opponents.

Pati stressed that the mercury produced by illegal activities in the Santiago River basin contaminates waters, which local communities depend on for fishing and drinking.

The statement came as Pati arrived in Lima to meet with the government’s high commissioner for the fight against illegal mining, and called for the declaration of a state of emergency in the Santiago River basin to evict the illegal miners.

Although natural resources and the environment are protected by Peru’s constitution, current measures are not sufficient according to many observers.

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