Eleven environmental defenders from the province of Cotabambas, in the Apurímac region, are being prosecuted for alleged crimes of rioting and other charges. The lawsuit dates back to September 2015, when mobilisations by affected indigenous communities erupted following the modification of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in 2013 and 2014 by the MMG Las Bambas mining company. The communities also claim that they were not consulted about the project.

Among those prosecuted are Virginia Pinares Ochoa, national human rights prize winner in 2022; Rodolfo Abarca Quispe, former president of the Defence Front of Cotabambas province; Lizbeth Abarca Peña, former president of Barrio Huamcayo in Tambobamba; Ronald Andrés Bello Abarca, former president of the Defence Front of Tambobamba district; Juan Pablo Cconislla Gallegos, former president of the Federation of Peasant Communities of the Challhuahuacho district; Maximiliano Huachaca Mamani, former leader of the Interprovincial Federation in defence of communities and the environment; and other defenders such as Alem Torre Garcés, Jacinto Lima Lucas, Walter Moreano Andrada, Romualdo Ochoa Aysa and Cosme Bolívar Escudero.