Peru: Further information: Family receives threats and faces eviction: Máxima Acuña
Máxima Acuña received a death threat over the telephone on 30 January and has been repeatedly harassed by police. She is in an ongoing legal dispute against a mining company over the ownership of a plot of land where she and her family live in northern Peru. They are at constant risk of forced eviction, attacks and threats from police.
Further information on UA: 182/13 Index: AMR 46/004/2014 Peru Date: 5 February 2014
URGENT ACTION
FAMILY RECEIVES THREATS AND FACES EVICTION
Máxima Acuña received a death threat over the telephone on 30 January and has been
repeatedly harassed by police. She is in an ongoing legal dispute against a mining
company over the ownership of a plot of land where she and her family live in northern
Peru. They are at constant risk of forced eviction, attacks and threats from police.
Máxima Acuña and her family, who are subsistence farmers, are in a dispute with mining company Yanacocha
over the ownership of the plot of land where they live in Tragadero Grande, Sorochuco district, Cajamarca region.
Both Yanacocha and Máxima Acuña’s family claim to own the land. In July 2013 a court annulled a 2012 ruling
which found the family guilty of illegal occupation of the land following a case brought on by the company. The
judge found that the first ruling presented a series of irregularities, including the failure to consider evidence
presented by Máxima Acuña’s family, such as their land purchase documentation. The judge ordered a new trial.
The next hearing is due to take place in March.
As the family awaits the outcome of the new trial, they have reported being repeatedly threatened and harassed by
police. On 30 January Máxima Acuña received a telephone call from a male voice who told her “get out of the
property or you’ll die” (sal de tu propiedad, si no vas a morir). Shortly after the call two police officers approached her and
told her to stop farming the land as it was not hers. After she and her daughter returned home, they stated that two police, one
of whom was armed, entered the house and told them to stop farming and to leave the land immediately. The police left after
Máxima Acuña made a few telephone calls to ask for help, but they came back to her property on 4 February to intimidate her
again. Over the past few years the Acuña family have reported repeated harassment and attacks from police, who
they state are attempting to drive them away.
Please write immediately in Spanish or your own language:
Reminding the authorities that the police must protect Máxima Acuña and her family from violence and
intimidation and must respect their human rights at all times, whatever the outcome of the land dispute;
Urging them to ensure that Máxima Acuña and her family are kept safe and are not forcibly evicted, and
order a thorough and impartial investigation into the attacks and harassment and bring those responsible to justice;
Calling on them to make all efforts to find an acceptable solution to this dispute, taking into account the
vulnerability of the family and the need to protect them from destitution;
Reminding them that any eviction should only be carried out after all international legal and procedural
safeguards have been applied, including genuine consultation, adequate notice, serious consideration of all
feasible alternatives to evictions and ensuring that nobody is left homeless or vulnerable to other human rights
violation as a result of the eviction.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 19 MARCH 2014 TO:
Head of Police
Gral. Jorge Flores Goicochea
Director General de la PNP
Av. Canaval y Moreyra cdra. 6 - Plaza 30
de agosto - San Isidro, Lima, Perú
Email: dirgen@pnp.gob.pe;
secretariageneralpnp@hotmail.com
Fax: +511 225 40 16
Salutation: Dear General/ Sr. General
Minister of the Interior
Abog. Walter Albán Peralta
Ministerio del Interior
Plaza 30 de Agosto s/n Urb. Corpac
San Isidro, Lima, Perú
Email: dm@mininter.gob.pe;
sg@mininter.gob.pe
Salutation: Dear Minister/ Sr. Ministro
And copies to:
Human Rights organization
GRUFIDES
Jr. José Galvez 430 – A,
Barrio San Pedro
Cajamarca, Perú
E-mail: info@grufides.org
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below:
Name Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax number Email Email address Salutation Salutation
Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date. This is the first update of UA: 182/13. Further information:
http://amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR46/004/2013/en
URGENT ACTION
FAMILY RECEIVES THREATS AND FACES EVICTION
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Under international law, forced evictions are a gross violation of a range of human rights, including the right to adequate
housing guaranteed under Article 11.1 of the International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights, and the right to
be free from arbitrary or unlawful interference with one’s home under Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights. According to international human rights law and standards, even where an eviction is considered to be justified,
and irrespective of the tenure status of the people being evicted, it should be carried out in strict compliance with international
law and due process requirements. Any use of force must respect principles of necessity and proportionality. The UN
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural rights stated that evictions must not “render individuals homeless or vulnerable to
the violation of other human rights”.
Peru is party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and as such, authorities in Peru are
obligated to respect, protect and fulfil the right to adequate housing which includes the prohibition and prevention of forced
evictions.
Names: Máxima Acuña (f) and her family
Gender m/f: both
Further information on UA: 182/13 Index: AMR 46/004/2014 Issue Date: 5 February 2014