Death of 'Irrepressible' Forest Defender Prompts Investigation

[Judi Lynn]

Published on Thursday, September 11, 2014
by Common Dreams

Death of 'Irrepressible' Forest Defender Prompts Investigation

Illegal loggers suspected in killing of Edwin Chota, other leaders

by Nadia Prupis, staff writer


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Edwin Chota attending a meeting on land titles and illegal logging in the Chambira community. (Photo: Emory Richey)
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Authorities in Peru are investigating the murder of environmental activist Edwin Chota, a leader of the Ashaninka Indian village of Saweto, who was killed along with three other men in a remote area of the Amazon jungle that they were attempting to protect from illegal logging.

Chota was murdered on September 1 after he left his home in Saweto to meet with other indigenous leaders and anti-logging activists who lived deeper within the jungle, a few days' walk away, near the Brazilian border. His body, and that of the other three men who were killed with him, was discovered by villagers several days later. The distance from the village to the regional capital, Pucallpa, delayed news of Chota’s death for over a week.

Illegal loggers are suspected in the killings, according to Ashaninka regional leader Reyder Sebastián. Chota often spoke of receiving death threats due to his activism and told the New York Times in 2010 that “the law does not reach where we live.”

“They could kill us at any time,” Chota said.

Chota had long fought for the rights of indigenous people to reclaim their land and ban loggers who illegally cut trees and raided the region’s rainforests.

More:
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/09/11/death-irrepressible-forest-defender-prompts-investigation

[Judi Lynn]

1. LTTE: Avoidable death of an environmentalist

Avoidable death of an environmentalist
The Guardian, Monday 15 September 2014 15.42 EDT

News of the deaths of four Peruvian tribal leaders (Illegal loggers blamed for murders in Amazon, 10 September) is especially resonant because their killings should have been avoided. It was well-known that one of the victims, Edwin Chota, a high-profile environmentalist, received numerous death threats from illegal loggers clearing forest on land that he was trying to secure rights to.

Chota was committed to protecting the forest that sustained him and local communities. His death is part of a rising trend in Peru, as our recent report Deadly Environment revealed, with over 58 environmental defenders killed in the country since 2002. Over half of these deaths occurred in the last three years.

Illegal logging is rampant in Chota’s Amazon Ucayali region. It is gutting the rainforest of rare woods like mahogany and tropical cedar, and increasing local tensions and violence. Loggers are literally getting away with murder and seem to enjoy impunity from the law.

Peru is hosting this year’s climate conference in December. It is tragically ironic that while governments flounder over international measures aimed at protecting the environment, they fail to recognise, respect and protect people like Chota, who put their lives on the line in the name of real environmental protection. People like Edwin embody the courage and tenacity needed to resolve our climate crisis, but we are losing them in the silent battles waged far from the boardrooms where decisions are made. Peru could lead by example and act to protect environmental defenders as one of our best hopes for the future.

Chris Moye
Forest campaigner, Global Witness

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/sep/15/avoidable-death-of-an-environmentalist