"United Nations condemns judicial persecution of rights defenders in Peru" - 4 February 2020

...Brandon Quispe, Javier Mamani and 17 other farmers from Apurímac, in the southern highlands of Peru, are participating in the first session of a trial against them on Tuesday. Since 2018, the hearing has been suspended eight times before it begins. The case of Quispe and Mamani, who were brought to justice after protesting the operations of Las Bambas mine five years ago, is one of several that concern the United Nations Rapporteur on human rights defenders, Michel Forst, in Peru. "It is a recurrent pattern of misuse of criminal law by state institutions or at the request of third parties, and the criminalization of social protest," says Forst. Hundreds of peasants protested in September 2015 against the Chinese mining company MMG because it modified the environmental impact study without informing or consulting those affected by the project. The police responded with violence and the result was four citizens killed. The change consisted of the elimination of the construction of an ore transfer pipeline, which would be replaced by truck transportation. The complaints focused on the fact that the facility would damage farmland and animals and that the company was failing to meet commitments to communities close to the mining operation... The French expert describes that in Peru there is a misuse of the justice system against people who peacefully promote or protect rights, and "a systematic deficiency in the authorities' reaction against large economic interests, at the regional and local level". He is also concerned that in the State, in the media and in the private sector, defenders are described as "enemies of the state", "terrorists", or "anti-development"... At a press conference in Lima, Forst commented that the union of large Peruvian businessmen, Confiep, presented him with a couple of videos that referred to environmental defenders "as people manipulated by their lawyers and advisors, shown as criminals and terrorists". In the expert's opinion, in Peru there is no safe or conducive environment for rights protectors, whether they are environmental defenders, LGBT activists, gender equality promoters or journalists…