Paris, Europe Brief News – Isolated Peruvian tribes face a threat to their existence from a push to scrap a planned Indigenous reserve led by an Anglo-French oil company, Indigenous groups say.
The firm, Perenco, whose slogan is “Oil remains an adventure”, filed an injunction in May for the repeal of a law offering preliminary government recognition to a proposed Napo-Tigre reserve. The first hearing is scheduled on 7 September.
As well as stopping the new Indigenous sanctuary, Perenco is asking that it be incorporated into the procedure for approving the reserve in future.
In documents seen by the Guardian, the firm contests the existence of uncontacted Peruvians in the northerly Napo-Tigre region in which it drills, despite photographic evidence supporting their presence.
“There are clear indications that cast doubt on their existence, which makes it alarming – and clearly in violation of our fundamental rights – that the ministry of culture is carrying out the procedure in question,” an official Perenco paper says.
Apu Jorge Pérez, president of the Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (Aidesep), accused Perenco of “violating the human rights of our uncontacted brothers and sisters”.
Julio Cusurichi, leader of the Indigenous Shipibo people and a former winner of the prestigious Goldman environmental prize, said: “It is totally unacceptable that this foreign company has sued the Peruvian state in order to deny the existence of these human beings. The company also seeks to prevent the creation of the Napo-Tigre Indigenous reserve, which would leave these peoples in a state of total defencelessness and could lead to their extermination.”
