The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has requested that the Peruvian government take action to protect the isolated Kakataibo Indigenous people in the Amazonian departments of Ucayali, Huánuco and Loreto. The group lives in voluntary isolation in the Kakataibo North and South Indigenous Reserve, where it’s under threat from illegal loggers and other invaders who deforest, establish illegal settlements, construct clandestine airstrips for transporting drugs, and carry out other illegal activities, according to an IACHR press release.
Such unwanted encroachment from outsiders has profound impacts on the area’s isolated people, said Julio Cusurichi, an Indigenous Shipibo-Conibo leader and member of the Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (AIDESEP). Uncontacted communities are more vulnerable to disease and violent conflict. Cusurichi told Mongabay that there have been reports of violent clashes between isolated people and illegal loggers, which have resulted in deaths.
“These communities are highly vulnerable,” he said. “Any contact could lead to the death of all these people. That’s why there’s concern that action be taken, that the government take action, and it isn’t doing so.”
According to the IACHR decision, the Peruvian state has failed to adopt effective and sufficient measures to mitigate the dangers that the isolated Kakataibo people face, thereby affecting their right to life, personal integrity and health. The commission requested that the state implement safeguarding actions that adhere to the principle of no contact, to prevent invaders from entering the territory, and to evaluate, monitor and guarantee water quality in the impacted zone, among other measures.
The 149,000-hectare (368,000-acre) Kakataibo North and South Indigenous Reserve was established in 2021. Cusurichi told Mongabay that the uncontacted Kakataibo people still occupy a larger area outside the reserve, including part of the Cordillera Azul mountain range.
While acknowledging that the IACHR decision is an important step, Cusurichi said he’s concerned the state will not follow through with the request. “If [measures] aren’t implemented, years will pass, and the loggers and outsiders will continue to invade, continuing to endanger the lives of these communities,” he said. “We have made a very strong appeal that the government now has to implement measures to comply with these recommendations made by the commission.”
Banner image: Illegal loggers tie tree trunks together to transport along the Putaya River near the hamlet of Saweto, Peru. Image by AP Photo/Martin Mejia.
