Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon have won the latest phase of their bid to reclaim their claimed ancestral rainforest.
The Kichwa community of Puerto Franco claims that their territory was stolen in 2001 to form the Azul Mountains National Park. Companies such as Shell and Total Energy have spent tens of millions of dollars on carbon credits in the park to combat emissions from fossil fuel operations. Despite a 2022 Associated Press investigation finding that the Kichwa people are almost certainly their ancestral territory due to the terms of a treaty Peru signed decades ago, the Kichwa people have little access to land. They could not afford any food and suffered from starvation.
Last year, local residents celebrated a dramatic legal victory when state judge Simona del Socorro Torres Sánchez ruled that building the park without their consent violated their rights. Authorities were ordered to give them legal title and proceeds from the sale of carbon credits.
However, this ruling was quickly overturned by the Court of Appeals and some legal experts questioned it.
However, Judge Sanchez again ruled in favor of the Kichwa tribe and issued a new order for the Kichwa tribe to regain their land and benefit from carbon credit sales. She discovered that the Kichwa people are an indigenous people and their territorial rights are more important than the amount of time that has passed.
The Peruvian government and CIMA, the nonprofit organization that runs the park, argue that too much time has passed for the Kichwa people to make their claims and that they are not truly indigenous. Peruvian authorities also claimed in legal filings that the community did not oppose the creation of the park in 2001.
Kichwa leader Inocente Sangama said he was “outraged” by claims that they were not indigenous. “Who says indigenous people can’t wear clothes?”
“The justice system has vindicated us,” he said. “We feel proud and happy.”
The Associated Press sent an email to the Peruvian government but did not receive an immediate response. CIMA Director Jorge Arriaga Arauco said in an email that he intends to appeal the decision and that it is based on solid evidence. The nonprofit says proceeds from the carbon credit project will help protect ancient rainforests, one of Peru’s most pristine and biodiverse environments.
The case may be moving towards a conclusion.
Juan Carlos Díaz, a constitutional lawyer at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, told The Associated Press that the ruling could be appealed to a higher court. If the Kichwa family wins there, the decision will be final, he said. If the Kichwa family loses their case, they have a final right of appeal to the Constitutional Court in Lima, but the government does not have that last resort.
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