A coalition of organizations, including Greengrants grantee Trabajo de Racimos de Ungurahui, filed suit last week against Occidental Petroleum for environmental damages on indigenous lands. Oil and gas companies are notorious in Peru for wreaking havoc on natural resources and stepping on the rights of indigenous groups.
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A lawsuit was filed last week by a coalition of non-governmental organizations and indigenous groups in Peru, including EarthRights International, Amazon Watch, and Greengrants grantee Trabajo de Racimos de Ungurahui, against Occidental Petroleum for environmental damages on indigenous lands. To read EarthRights’ press release on the lawsuit against Oxy, click here.
The suit alleges egregious harm caused by Oxy over a 30-year period in the Corrientes River basin of the northeastern Peruvian Amazon during which Oxy contaminated the rivers and the lands of the indigenous Achuar people, causing death, severe health problems, and destruction of their traditional way of life.
Apu Tomos Maynas Carijano, a plaintiff in the case and an Achuar traditional leader, stated, “With this lawsuit, I am here demanding Oxy clean up and compensate for the contamination it left in the Rio Corrientes region. We can no longer eat the fish or drink the water. Our children are guaranteed death unless Oxy acts now”.
Oxy is not the only big corporate oil player in Peru – others include Chevron and ConocoPhilips. Oil and gas development in Peru has led to poisoned water, increased disease among indigenous peoples, increased tensions and sometimes violence between the various parties involved, and wreaked havoc on environment on which the livelihoods of indigenous peoples depend. The threat is clear, and activism has increased significantly over the last 10 years as indigenous groups have come together to defend their rights to land and culture.
We have supported Trabajo de Racimos de Ungurahui with five grants since 2002 to bring attention to this issue and mobilize the diverse and often distant tribes to come together to strategize on how to move forward. One of the grants we made specifically supported the preparation for this lawsuit against Oxy, including putting together a report titled ‘A Legacy of Harm’ that outlines Oxy’s abuses – and we will keep our fingers crossed that the outcome of the suit is a positive one.
The same coalition that is moving forward with this lawsuit is also filing suit in the U.S. to prevent the continued importation of illegal timber as another avenue of protecting Peru’s indigenous lands from resource extraction. And in March of 2007, a coalition of some of the same players was successful in pressuring the Peruvian government to redraw oil concession boundaries, increasing protection for an indigenous reserve. Click here for more information on this case.
These are important steps forward – and a clear demonstration of the effectiveness of building networks and coalitions among grassroots organizations. Over the last five years, Greengrants has provided 45 grants totaling over $180,000 to support grassroots efforts to protect the culture, health, livelihood, and environment of Peru’s indigenous people.