URGENT ACTION

DEFENDER KILLED, FAMILY IN DANGER
On 11 September 2020, human rights defender Roberto Carlos Pacheco was shot dead by unknown attackers. Pacheco had received death threats since 2012 linked to his activism against illegal mining in the Tambopata Reserve, Madre de Dios region, in the Amazon. Despite having received insufficient protection measures from authorities, his family believe they are in danger, particularly Demetrio Pacheco, his father, and Vice-president of the Tambopata Reserve Management Committee. We call on the Public Prosecutor to investigate this murder, bring suspects to justice and protect the Pacheco family.

TAKE ACTION: WRITE AN APPEAL IN YOUR OWN WORDS OR USE THIS MODEL LETTER

Public Prosecutor, Zoraida Ávalos Rivera
Fiscalía de la Nación-Ministerio Público
Av. Abancay 5, Cercado de Lima, 
15001, Lima, Perú
Email: zavalos@mpfn.gob.pe

Dear Public Prosecutor,

I write to you with regards to the murder of the environmental human rights defender Roberto Carlos Pacheco. On 11 September 2020, unknown attackers shot him dead. Since 2012, He received a series of death threats linked to his activism against illegal mining in the Tambopata Reserve, in the Peruvian Amazon’s Madre de Dios region. These death threats were denounced before the authorities.

His family reported that they are in danger despite receiving insufficient protection measures from authorities. They are particularly concerned about Demetrio Pacheco, his father, and Vicepresident of the Tambopata Reserve Management Committee.

I call on you to immediately, thoroughly, independently and impartially investigate this murder in line with human rights standards, including its possible relation to Roberto’s and Demetrio’s human rights work, to bring those suspected of criminal responsibility to justice and to fully protect the family through the Protocol for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders.

Yours sincerely,

Additional information

Since 2011 the Tambopata Reserve Management Committee has worked to end illegal mining and its negative effects on the environment. The threats and attacks against their members and other human rights defenders in the area began in 2012.
On 19 November 2015, environmental defender Alfredo Ernesto Vracko Neuenschwander was killed. He had received several death threats after a complaint against illegal mining in La Pampa area, in the Madre de Dios region. According to local human rights organizations, even though the victim’s family has identified those allegedly responsible, no progress has been made on the investigations.
Demetrio Pacheco told Amnesty that his son Roberto Carlos Pacheco suffered three incidents of attacks and death threats. In March, unknown attackers beat and threatened him at gunpoint and a knife. Later that month, unknown individuals threatened him with a gun to his mouth and destroyed some of his personal property. Later that year, a bullet was left on his dining room table. All these threats were reported to the authorities. Nevertheless, authorities did not make progress to identify those responsible or effectively protect Roberto Carlos Pacheco.
Roberto Carlos Pacheco was shot dead on Friday 11 September 2020. His body was found near the San Juan community, in the Madre de Dios Region.
In recent years, the Madre de Dios region, in the Peruvian Amazon, has been the center of social and environmental conflicts caused by the growth of illegal mining by organized crime (according to the definition established in the Legislative Decree No. 1105-2012), illegal logging and contamination by toxic metals. In January 2020, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Michel Forst, met with representatives of the Tambopata Reserve Management Committee and publicly expressed concern regarding their situation.
PREFERRED LANGUAGE TO ADDRESS TARGET: Spanish.
You can also write in your own language.

PLEASE TAKE ACTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNTIL: 13 November 2019 
Please check with the Amnesty office in your country if you wish to send appeals after the deadline.

NAME AND PREFFERED PRONOUN: Roberto Pacheco and his family (they, them)

Additional TARGETS

Minister of Justice and Human Rights
Ana Cristina Neyra Zegarra
Email: aneyra@minjus.gob.pe 
Twitter: @ananeyra, @MinJusDH_Peru, Facebook: @MinjusPeru,
Ministerio de Justicia y Derechos Humanos
Scipión Llona 350, Miraflores, Lima, 15046, Peru.

And copies to:
His Excellency Mr Juan Carlos Gamarra  
Embassy of Peru
52 Sloane Street SW1X 9SP
020 7235 1917/8340/3802
Fax 020 7235 4463
postmaster@peruembassy-uk.com 
www.peruembassy-uk.com