Kenyan tribe to Ban Ki-Moon: 'We condemn Peru repression'

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A spokesman from a tribe in Kenya has condemned the Peruvian government’s attempt to destroy Peru’s Amazon Indigenous movement.

The condemnation comes from Kiplangat Cheruyot from the Ogiek tribe in response to the revelation that Peru’s government plans to disband Peru’s national organisation for Indigenous people in the Amazon, known by its Spanish acronym AIDESEP.

‘We, the Ogiek Indigenous people of Kenya, condemn in the strongest possible terms the Peruvian Government for its human rights abuses, including arrest, prosecution and harassment of Indigenous and tribal people.

‘We understand that Peru is a signatory to several United Nations conventions that seek to promote and protect its citizens. It’s sad to note that the same government violates its own national laws by not respecting or recognising Indigenous peoples’ rights as contained in the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights.

‘We call upon the international community, including the UN secretary-general, to send its Special Rapporteur for an immediate fact-finding mission on human rights situations in Peru. We cannot just sit by and watch what is happening. We must take all necessary avenues to make the government change its ill motives and intentions.’

Cheruyot is a spokesman for the Ogiek People’s Development Program. The Ogiek face becoming the world’s latest ‘conservation refugees’ after the Kenyan government recently announced plans to evict them from their land in a bid to stop climate change.

AIDESEP was founded in 1980 and represents 350,000 Indigenous people in the Peruvian Amazon.