Peru: Amazonian Indigenous Leader Mariano Isacama Found Dead
Crime scene on the banks of the Yurac River, July, 14, 2024. Photo: X/ @lupaycedazo
July 15, 2024 Hour: 10:29 am
Human rights defenders recalled that 34 community leaders have been murdered since 2013.
On Sunday, Mariano Isacama-Feliciano, an Indigenous leader of the Amazonian Kakataibo people, was found dead with signs of torture after being missing for 24 days.
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The Peruvian Indigenous leader was known for his work as a human rights defender within the Puerto Azul community. His body was found on the banks of the Yurac River, near the city of Aguaytia, in the Ucayali department.
The Kakataibo community expressed its profound sorrow and condemnation of the cowardly murder of one of its most beloved leaders. It also declared a “national mourning” in memory of Isacama-Feliciano’s struggle.
Previously, human rights activists had criticized the Peruvian authorities for their slow response to the disappearance of the Kakataibo community leader.
The Indigenous communities have requested that the specialized human rights and interculturality prosecutors conduct a thorough and swift investigation to bring those responsible to justice.
Isacama-Feliciano’s death adds to a growing list of threats and murders affecting Indigenous peoples in Peru. Social organizations have reiterated their demand to live in territories free from the violence generated by foreign companies and mafias.
In May, over 50 representatives of Indigenous peoples asked the Peruvian state for protection measures against the increasing violence in their territories. They recalled that 34 community leaders have been murdered for standing up to these threats since 2013.
Autor: teleSUR/ JF
Fuente: ORAU
