Protecting Protest Leaders in Peru
Organizers of protests and votes on mining projects in Peru face criminal charges
EDLC has learned of a growing number of cases where environmental defenders are charged with crimes for the unforeseen consequences of lawful protests they have helped organize. These politically-motivated charges seek to somehow hold protest organizers liable for the actions of others. Lawyers working with EDLC are helping defend against such charges in two cases from Peru.
The Tambogrande Protest
In early 2001, over 15,000 residents of the town of Tambogrande protested against a highly controversial mine proposed by Manhattan Minerals. During the protest, a small group broke away and caused some property damage to the mining company. Community leaders suspect this was initiated by infiltrators.
The following year, citizens of Tambogrande held a vote on the proposed project, in which 98% of the voters voiced their opposition. In the face of the community’s overwhelming rejection of the mine, as well as financial difficulties, Manhattan withdrew the proposal in 2005.
Criminal charges against the protest organizers
Fifty-four individuals were charged with crimes as a result of the 2001 protest. A number of the leaders of the opposition to the mine, who also organized the protest and the subsequent vote, were among those charged. If convicted, the organizers could be sentenced to six years imprisonment.
The case went to trial before a judge, who acquitted thirty-five of the defendants, including all of the organizers. The government appealed, and a higher court annulled the acquittals. The fifty-four defendants were tried again, with the same result. The government appealed again, and the second acquittal verdict was annulled. Incredibly, the prosecution was given permission to present its case for the third time against the thirty-five. However, as of September 2011, the prosecutor had not presented charges against these thirty-five defendants for a third time. The protesters who were not acquitted received two to three years non-jail sentences which have already been served.
Even more remarkable is the fact that there has never been any evidence presented that these defendants participated in any of the destructive acts that were committed, or knew or had reason to know that such acts would be committed. Their sole “crime” appears to be organizing the protest.
Help for the defense
EDLC believes that the protest organizers are being prosecuted in retaliation for their leadership of the opposition to the mining project. The organizers’ lawyer in Peru asked EDLC to help the defense by preparing a brief for submission to the court, and EDLC recruited a team of lawyers from firms in Los Angeles and London with experience in human rights law and criminal law to do so.
- Amicus curiae brief to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights submitted by environmental organizations in the Americas