Indigenous leader murdered while patrolling forests in Peru's Amazon

An indigenous leader and environmental defender was killed in the Peruvian Amazon while patrolling Asháninka territories, the government reported Tuesday. The crime occurred Sunday in a remote part of the Ucayali region, bordering Brazil, where other fatal attacks against indigenous community members have been registered before.

Américo Pascuala Tomisha, 57, was killed "while carrying out territorial surveillance actions," the Ministry of Culture stated on X. The organization ORAU, which represents 20 indigenous collectives in the region, reported that the leader "received gunshot impacts." His death occurred "during a confrontation on communal lands with 'third parties' allegedly extracting copaiba oil, used in traditional medicine and varnish manufacturing," the organization specified in a statement.

Pascuala had denounced the presence of invaders in his community since 2020. "This cowardly murder is regrettable; what happens in our Amazon must not go unpunished," said Herlin Odicio, vice president of ORAU, at a press conference. The Peruvian prosecutor's office has initiated a homicide investigation and announced the aerial transfer of authorities to the remote district of Yuruá, the crime scene.

According to the NGO Global Witness, at least 62 land and environmental defenders have been killed in Peru between 2012 and 2024, with more than half belonging to indigenous peoples.

“

This cowardly murder is regrettable, that what happens in our Amazon does not go unpunished.