In a pivotal legal case that could set a precedent for holding perpetrators accountable for violence against environmental defenders in Peru’s Amazon region, five men are set to stand trial over the killing of Kichwa tribal leader Quinto Inuma Alvarado.
Alvarado, who was murdered on 29 November 2023, had repeatedly denounced illegal activities within his community’s territory. Prosecutors are seeking life sentences for the suspects, who are believed to have been involved in illegal logging, under charges of contract killing – a first in a case involving the death of an Indigenous environmental defender in Peru.
The trial is being closely watched by Indigenous groups, environmental advocates and international observers as a test of whether Peru can curb the violence linked to illegal deforestation and drug trafficking in the Amazon, where community leaders who defend forests and land rights often face threats with little protection and few cases ever reaching the courts.
“My father was deeply committed to his territory and his community,” said Alvarado’s 30-year-old son, Kevin Arnol Inuma. “Being a real environmental defender requires a lot of sacrifice – walking through the forest, in sun and rain, and exposing yourself to danger.”
Inuma had received repeated threats for opposing illegal activities and was aware of the risks, according to his son. “He used to tell us that one day they might kill him and that we should be prepared,” he said.
Prosecutors allege that the suspects, believed to have been illegal loggers, targeted Alvarado because of his role in defending Indigenous land and reporting illegal activities to the authorities. The attack took place while Alvarado was travelling by boat along a river route used to reach his community, where he was shot and fell into the river. Another community member was injured but survived.
Investigators have linked the suspects to individuals whom Alvarado had repeatedly reported to authorities for illegal logging and drug trafficking. Prosecutors say they have a strong case, including forensic gunshot-residue tests and witness testimony placing the accused at the scene around the time of the killing.
If the court were to hand down life sentences, it would mark an unprecedented outcome in Peru over the killing of an Indigenous environmental defender. Advocates say a ruling of that kind could send a strong signal that such crimes will no longer go unpunished in Peru and across Latin America.
“This case is significant because it is the opportunity that the Peruvian state has to establish an exemplary sanction,” said Cristina Gavancho, a lawyer with the Lima-based Instituto de Defensa Legal, which has accompanied Indigenous organisations and victims’ families since the killing.
At least 35 Indigenous defenders have been killed in Peru over the past decade, according to Indigenous organisations and human rights groups, including Global Witness. The case has also drawn attention to the failure of Peru’s system for protecting environmental and Indigenous defenders, as Alvarado had been granted a security detail under a state protection mechanism created in 2021, but those measures were never implemented.
