Madre de Dios: Hitman shoots down Juan Julio Fernández, protector of the Tambopata reserve

The protector of the Tambopata reserve in Madre de Dios, Juan Julio Fernández Hanco, 59, was found dead with two shots in the body. With this homicide, 14 environmental defenders have been killed in Peru since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Peruvian Society of Environmental Law (SPDA).

According to his relatives, the crime occurred last Sunday night, March 21, in 'La Pampa', at kilometer 107 of the Puerto Maldonado - Cusco interoceanic highway, in the district of Inambari, Tambopata province.

Juan Julio was the brother of fellow environmental defender Germán Fernández, one of the coordinators of the Tambopata National Reserve Management Committee. The latter narrated to the Amazon Center for Anthropology and Practical Application (CAAAP) that he witnessed when, in the middle of an event, a hit man drew a gun and shot him twice near the head.

“Those gentlemen are invaders. Hitmen hired by illegal miners. As long as illegal mining is in Nueva Arequipa, every day there will be deaths. This place should be declared an emergency. People die here every day,” said Germán Fernández.

In that sense, Fernández, who also serves as lieutenant governor of the Nueva Arequipa Population Center, said that he and his family receive threats from illegal miners . Her sister was even kidnapped while she was in her farm by people linked to these acts.

“They threaten me every day. They come to the door of my house and send shots in the air. (...) I have always fought against illegal mining throughout the buffer zone, but there is no control there. There are policemen who don't work, and that's why they can't get them out of there,” her sister told CAAAP.

Meanwhile, Luisa Ríos, regional coordinator of the SPDA in Madre de Dios, lamented the impunity for these crimes and specified that “Juan Julio Fernández is the third person environmental defender to be killed in Madre de Dios.” “The cases of the two previously murdered environmental defenders continue to fail to find justice,” he said.

“The impunity with which illegals act in Tambopata continues to create a challenging and deadly context for those who seek to defend their lands and forests because they are their livelihoods, so their struggle will never stop,” he continued.

It should be noted that until before the pandemic, between 2001 and 2020, 159 environmental defenders died and 2326 were injured in the midst of different social conflicts, according to figures from the National Coordinating Office for Human Rights.

PERUVIAN GOVERNMENT WILL INTERVENE TO ASSASSINATE LEADERS

In view of the events that occurred, the Government committed to promoting a round table of environmental defenders in Madre de Dios, to articulate actions with authorities, indigenous organizations and civil society in order to promote safe environments for human rights defenders and reduce situations of risk.

This was reported by the Ministries of the Interior, Justice and Environment, through a statement, which states that the authorities made themselves available of the victim's relatives.

“Immediately, the relevant coordination was carried out with the Public Prosecutor's Office, the Ministry of the Interior and other local authorities for the initiation of relevant investigations and the prompt clarification of the facts,” the document adds.

The text also states that, “as part of the actions promoted by the Intersectoral Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, actions will be promoted to set up a roundtable of environmental defenders in Madre de Dios”.

This, in order to “articulate joint efforts and actions with sectoral and regional authorities, indigenous organizations and representatives of civil society at the regional level to promote safe environments for human rights defenders and reduce situations of risk”.

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