This Week in Human Rights News

Peru to establish Yavarí Tapiche Indigenous reserve for isolated Indigenous peoples

Sources: MongaBay, NYTimes (1, 2, 3), France 24

The Peruvian government has moved to establish a new Indigenous reserve for “uncontacted peoples” deep in the Amazon rainforest: the Yavarí Tapiche Indigenous Reserve, after a nearly 20 year-long process.
Yavarí Tapiche covers 1.1 million hectares (2.7 million acres) on the Peru-Brazil border, and is home to Matsés, Remo, and Marubo peoples, as well as other groups that have yet to be identified.
The reserve will be the first to be established under Peru’s law governing territories for peoples in isolation and initial contact (PIACI). However, its protection plan still must be approved by the Ministry of Culture within 60 days.

PIACI have little or no contact with the outside world and live in some of the world’s most biologically diverse places, including remote parts of the Amazon Basin.
Angela Arriola, specialist in policies for Indigenous peoples and PIACI told Mongabay News: “The creation of Yavarí Tapiche is a great advance. However, the rest of the tools must be implemented as soon as possible to ensure their protection.”

A major challenge is protecting Indigenous peoples in Yavarí Tapiche from threats such as drug traffickers and illegal loggers operating in the area.
The history of the creation of Yavarí Tapiche Indigenous Reserves demonstrates the lengthy nature of establishing Indigenous reserves in Peru. The categorisation process of PIACI in the region took 17 years in total.

Parallel to this, Peru’s election for its fifth president in five years is headed into a polarising run-off election between far-left former union activist and teacher Pedro Castillo and (most likely) right-wing Keiko Fujimori, daughter of jailed former authoritarian leader Alberto Fujimori.
Fujimori is on her third presidential campaign and has already been jailed three times in connection to an ongoing money laundering investigation.

Peruvians are mandated by law to vote, and many are growing increasingly tired of the country’s politics, and the second round of elections in June could send the country in vastly different directions.
Over the last 5 years, Peru has had 4 presidents and 2 Congresses.
Three of the former presidents have gone to in jail during bribery investigations, one died by suicide to avoid arrest and another was impeached in November. The later’s replacement resigned after lasting less than a week in office.

The next president will have to deal with both an economic and health crisis as Peru has one of the highest Covid-19 death rates in the world.
Many patients have died due to lack of access to oxygen or ventilators, many are struggling to access food.