Peru Support Group: Defend the Defenders

Aim

Environmental and human-rights defenders are under attack in Peru. Help us to support them in the fight for their lives and the planet

Our story 

The Peru Support Group is a small but highly effective organisation that campaigns on environmental and human-rights issues in Peru, with a network of partner civil society organisations in Peru and on mainland Europe.

We provide a valuable and reliable source of information for all who share an interest in Peru, its people, their human rights and sustainable development in the region. Our Peruvian partners see us as a channel to amplify their voices and advocate for change through our network of academics, activists and lobbyists. 

‘In the PSG we have found a great ally… it has been super-valuable in helping us to bring our issues before parliamentarians, investors and consumers of materials that are being extracted from our region, causing severe [human rights and environmental] problems…’ – Karem Luque, biologist, Human Rights Without Borders (DHSF), Cuzco, Peru

Why your help is needed now

The people of Peru have taken a battering in recent times. Emerging from a pandemic that claimed the world’s highest per-capita death rate for Covid-19, the country is also facing some of the most severe climate change impacts on the planet, including the loss of forests and biodiversity, accelerated glacier melt and water scarcity. But at the same time, international interest in its mineral riches and other natural resource wealth is on the increase. This has the effect of ramping up the threat to communities and their natural environments. 

Lives and livelihoods are ruined by toxic pollution that often accompanies mineral and resource extraction. Illegal deforestation, drug trafficking and land grabbing are on the increase in Peru’s Amazon, leading to growing criminality and violence. Poverty and inequality continue to rise as the country’s policy is driven by business elites. 

Human-rights and environmental defenders are doing what they can, but they are increasingly under attack. If they stand up to powerful vested interests, they face threats, violence and even death. Often the state itself criminalises their attempts to protect themselves through protest. 

Since 2017, at least 34 defenders have been killed in Peru, half of whom were environmental indigenous defenders from the Amazonian region. Since early 2020, 17 killings of indigenous leaders have been registered by the National Co-ordinator of Human Rights. 

These defenders are often ordinary indigenous Peruvians seeking to protect their land and environment from intrusion by large mining and other extractive companies indifferent to international standards.  People like Esmeralda Larota, who has numerous health problems due to toxic levels of heavy metals in her blood resulting from contaminated drinking water. Her K’ana community’s home is next to a vast copper and gold mining complex in Espinar, Cuzco, operated by the Anglo-Swiss mining giant Glencore. 

The Peru Support Group has played a major role in raising awareness in the UK and the EU of the plight of communities such as Esmeralda’s and lobbying government and pension funds to take action against corporations that fail to abide by international standards while operating in Peru.  

‘I’d like to thank the Peru Support Group for accompanying me to highlight my problems in different places, before different authorities [in the UK and EU]. Thank you very much for listening, for supporting me.’ – Esmeralda Larota, environmental defender and K’ana community member in Espinar, Peru 

‘PSG’s support to environmental defenders is critically important. It is not only a continuation of PSG’s long commitment to human rights defence in Peru, it is also critical to climate and environmental agendas. This is work that simultaneously holds the Peru and UK governments to account and supports their very own climate agendas.’ – Anthony Bebbington, Director of Natural Resources and Climate Change, Ford Foundation 

Why support us? 

For nearly 40 years the Peru Support Group, through core research, advocacy and campaigning, has supported human rights, justice, democracy and sustainable development in Peru.

We are non-partisan: we do not support any political party or government. Our research and advocacy are concerned with human rights and sustainable development. Our values make us:

Respected – by academics, activists, journalists, non-governmental organisations and civil servants, for our reliable research.

Relevant – our weekly newsletter keeps readers up to date with key events and developments in a digestible format. 

Connected – we have an international network of expert researchers and grass-roots groups; our partners include academics, Peruvian and European civil society organisations and parliamentarians.

Effective – we bring together human rights and environmental defenders, experts and organizations working on these issues, and decision-makers, be they political or financial. This increases knowledge and understanding of key issues, enabling more informed and coherent decision making, in line with international commitments on human rights, sustainable development and action on climate change. 

‘The PSG plays a vital role in accompanying and amplifying the struggle for human rights in Peru. It has linked networks of solidarity and action, making a solid contribution to the generation of evidence, as well as initiating political dialogue with key actors in the EU and UK’ – Alejandra Alayza, Oxfam Peru

But, although only a small organisation, we need money to continue in existence. We aim to raise £12,000 through this appeal. If we cannot raise funds now, we will not be able to carry on doing this valuable work at a time when it is needed more than ever. 

Credit: Quisca Productions 

What your help will enable 

 Reliable and timely production of our weekly newsletter

We know that our weekly newsletter is a valued source of impartial and reliable information to our readers and want to continue building its strength and outreach.

 Advocacy work

Advocating for human rights in Peru not only requires impartial and analytical research, it also needs us to spread the word, raise our voices and build pressure for change.

 Defender visits

The best way to learn about the country's issues is by listening to those affected. Visits by Peruvian human-rights and environmental defenders provide them with invaluable international platforms. Such visits highlight general concerns through specific cases, mobilising support, and helping us to build networks of solidarity.

International webinars

We could continue and expand our new webinar programme to increase our reach and engagement, making for easier interaction between activists, journalists, and academics in Peru and audiences in the UK and worldwide. 

‘The Peru Support Group reflects the best of voluntary, collective action. Its great strengths are the expertise and deep commitment of its members, its access to leading figures in British and Peruvian institutions, and its ability to stretch its supporters’ donations to the fullest extent possible.’  – Anthony Bebbington

Please donate now! 

If you have any questions, you can contact Ana Reyes Hurt on [email protected]  

This project successfully funded on 2nd December 2022