Harassment of environmental human rights defender Edivar Juan Carrasco Vásquez
On 27 March 2021, members of the campesino community of Muchik Santa Catalina de Chongoyape and the group Frente de Defensa Salvemos Chaparrí (Save Chaparrí Defense Front) recorded the latest in a number of suspicious activities in the Chaparrí Ecological reserve, including the presence of armed individuals attempting to hide in the territory.
On 15 January 2021, a verbal complaint against environmental human rights defenders Edivar Juan Carrasco Vásquez, Segundo Américo Montalvo Reyes, René del Socorro Bayona Torres, Wilson Bautista Sanchez and Humberto Gonzáles Nuñez was made to the Investigations Section of the Decentralized Department of the Environment Unit of the Peru National Police (PNP) Lambayeque for alleged environmental damage under articles 313 and 311 of the Criminal Code of the Ministry of the Environment. None of the defenders or their legal representatives were informed of the complaint.
Edivar Juan Carrasco Vásquez is an environmental human rights defender and the current president of the Muchik Santa Catalina de Chongoyape community. He is also a leading member of the community organisation Frente de Defensa Salvemos Chaparrí (Save Chaparrí Defense Front),and the Asociación para la Conservación de la Naturaleza y Turismo Sostenible Chaparri - ACOTURCH (Association for the Conservation of Nature and Sustainable Tourism), which is dedicated to the defense and conservation of the natural reserve "Área de Conservación Privada Chaparrí".
On 27 March 2021, members of the campesino community of Muchik Santa Catalina de Chongoyape and the group Frente de Defensa Salvemos Chaparrí (Save Chaparrí Defense Front) recorded the latest in a number of suspicious activities in the Chaparrí Ecological reserve, including the presence of armed individuals attempting to hide in the territory.
Community members and environmental defenders of Chaparrí, including Edivar Juan Carrasco Vásquez, were carrying out reforestation activities when they noticed the presence of a pickup truck and at least four individuals carrying long weapons hiding in bushes nearby. The armed individuals left shortly after realizing they had been seen by the community members.
On 28 March 2021, Edivar Juan Carrasco Vásquez, the president of the community, filed a complaint before the Peru National Police (PNP), at the Police Station of Changoyape. Given the sharp increase in intimidation, criminalization, harassment of and attacks against members of the Save Chaparrí Defense Front since December 2020, the human rights defender believes that this incident may have resulted in his attempted killing had the armed individuals not been disturbed.
Despite being granted personal security measures by the Ministry of Interior since March 2018, environmental defenders of the Save Chaparrí Defense Front continue to face great risks in reprisal for their work. There has not been effective implementation of the security measures nor have individuals behind the attacks been investigated.
The recent acts of intimidation seem to be directly linked to their work defending the land and territory in the Chaparrí reserve, including the recovery of 1,500 hectares of protected land that could otherwise be damaged or used for private interests, including monoculture farms. Groups linked to monoculture farms have been responsible for previous attacks against the community.
Front Line Defenders reiterates its grave concern at the acts of intimidation against human rights defender Edivar Juan Carrasco Vásquez and the Muchik Santa Catalina de Chongoyape community, which appear to be directly related to their defence of land and the environment. Front Line Defenders urges the state of Peru to adopt all necessary steps to ensure effective implementation of the security measures granted by the Ministry of Interior, as well as to guarantee there is a thorough and impartial investigation into the attacks against them.
On 15 January 2021, a verbal complaint against environmental human rights defenders Edivar Juan Carrasco Vásquez, Segundo Américo Montalvo Reyes, René del Socorro Bayona Torres, Wilson Bautista Sanchez and Humberto Gonzáles Nuñez was made to the Investigations Section of the Decentralized Department of the Environment Unit of the Peru National Police (PNP) Lambayeque for alleged environmental damage under articles 313 and 311 of the Criminal Code of the Ministry of the Environment. None of the defenders or their legal representatives were informed of the complaint.
Edivar Juan Carrasco Vásquez is an environmental human rights defender and the current president of the Muchik Santa Catalina de Chongoyape community. He is also a leading member of the community organisation Frente de Defensa Salvemos Chaparrí (Save Chaparrí Defense Front),and the Asociación para la Conservación de la Naturaleza y Turismo Sostenible Chaparri - ACOTURCH (Association for the Conservation of Nature and Sustainable Tourism), which is dedicated to the defense and conservation of the natural reserve "Área de Conservación Privada Chaparrí".
Members of the campesino community of Muchik Santa Catalina de Chongoyape and the group Frente de Defensa Salvemos Chaparrí have reported continued incidents of harassment by officers of the Environmental Unit of the Peru National Police (PNP) since the first week of February. The environmental rights defenders and community members have been subjected to harassment in the form of police operations in the community, threats of criminalization and summonses to testify.
On 6 February 2021, around twelve officers of the Environmental Unit of the PNP carried out an operation in the rural community of Muchik Santa Catalina de Chongoyape. The operation was conducted by the Unit in attempts to verify environmental crimes allegedly committed by members of the community, including environmental human rights defenders from the Frente de Defensa Salvemos Chaparrí.
During the operation, the officers registered the names and identity documents of about 30 members of the community, including women and men human rights defenders who at the time were carrying out activities to prepare trails and promote reforestation and legitimate monitoring activities in the ecological area. The 30 individuals were threatened with arrest if they did not leave the area and cease their activities. Members of the community reported that during the same operation, the officers threatened to bring legal action against Edivar Juan Carrasco Vásquez.
On 13 February 2021, unknown individuals in a vehicle entered the property of Edivar Juan Carrasco Vásquez, leaving after several minutes. The same incident occurred again one week later. Edivar Juan Carrasco Vásquez considers the actions as an attempt to intimidate him
The recent intimidation and harassment of Edivar Juan Carrasco Vásquez and other members of the community are not isolated incidents, but rather fit into a broader pattern of harassment against members of the Santa Catalina de Chongoyape community in recent years, including verbal and physical violence, monitoring, arbitrary separation from the community and death threats. The community members have reportedly been subjected to such harassment and intimidation in response to their opposition to mega-projects on their territory. One of these mega-projects is the Regional Hydraulic Plan of Lambayeque, which includes plans for at least 19 mega-dams, and prioritizes construction of “La Montería” dam on protected territory, for which the local community of Santa Catalina have not given their prior consent. Given that other Chaparrí defenders have been targeted with similar criminalisation attempts and attacks in the past, it is concerning that Edivar Juan Carrasco Vásquez is now too being threatened with legal action for his efforts to defend the rights and territory of the Santa Catalina de Chongoyape community.
Front Line Defenders condemns the continued harassment of the community of Santa Catalina de Chongoyape by the Environmental Unit of the PNP and the attempts to criminalize the work of environmental human rights defenders like Edivar Juan Carrasco Vásquez, Wilson Bautista Sánchez and other members of the community and Frente de de Defensa Salvemos Chaparrí. Front Line Defenders expresses its grave concern in relation to the recent escalation of tensions in Chaparrí, which appears to coincide with the Lambayeque Regional Court’s approval of the feasibility studies for the construction of the “La Montería” dam to take place within the ecological reserve of Chaparrí.
