Bagua Massacre – A Test for Justice in Peru
Bagua Massacre – A Test for Justice in Peru
By Milagros Salazar
LIMA, May 16 2014 (IPS) - The trial of 52 indigenous people that just got underway for a 2009 massacre near the city of Bagua in northwest Peru will test the judicial system’s independence and ability to impart justice.
The oral phase of the trial opened Wednesday May 14 in a court in Bagua in the northern region of Amazonas. The next hearing will be held May 26.
The defendants are indigenous leaders and residents involved one way or another in the Jun. 5, 2009 clash between security forces and protesters that left 34 people dead – 24 police officers and 10 civilians – and around 200 injured.
Indigenous people in that Amazon region had blocked a highway near Bagua for two months, demanding the repeal of decrees passed by the government of Alan García (2006-2011) that opened up native territories in the rainforest to oil, mining and logging companies, violating rights guaranteed in the constitution.
Several of the decrees were repealed.
But the bloody incident made headlines around the world.
More:
http://www.ipsnews.net/2014/05/bagua-massacre-test-justice-peru/