There were more victims in Bagua. Police attacked in two fronts. The truth behind the policemen killed by the Natives. There is a need for an international investigation on the missing civilians.Ben Powless in an independent photojournalist, a college student, and an activist for the rights of Indigenous peoples and the environment. Powless is a Mohawk from Six Nations in Ontario, and he traveled to Peru recently to participate at the IV Continental Summit of Indigenous Peoples of the Abya Yala, in the city of Puno.
I interviewed Ben Powless during his recent visit to Washington, DC, as part of a delegation of Indigenous leaders who met with members of the U.S. Congress, to expose the advance of the Indigenous movements in South America’s Andean region and the threats of possible violence as a result of the U.S. trade policies and racism of the local South American political elites.
The government of Alan Garcia in Peru attacked civilian protesters with militarized police forces, in order to open a road blockade. Indigenous protesters oppose free trade policies that allow corporations to take over Indigenous lands and their resources, with popular consultation. For months, there were attempts of dialogue, but the Garcia administration just ignored the Native’s demands for months.
After hearing of the attacks of the Peruvian police against the Indigenous peoples last June 5 -ordered by president Alan Garcia- Powless decided to stay in Peru and he traveled to Bagua in order to find out the truth about these events. The media in Lima were telling a different version of what Ben heard from Amazonian leaders and witnesses, including a higher death toll, more injured and missing people and even tortured civilians by the police. Ben Powell decided to travel to Bagua.
In Bagua
Once he arrived, Powless and the group of activists with him were prevented from entering the area of the attacks, known as the Devil Bend [Curva del Diablo], because the military and police had shut down all access to the attacks area. Not even the Peruvian government authorities –including the ombudsman or public defender office commission- were allowed in.
Ben Powless said he saw that almost half of the hill adjacent to Curva del Diablo had been burned, that all the area of the attacks had been cleaned up and there were almost not artifacts left. But Powless spoke with witnesses at the site.
The witnesses said that on June 5 before 6 in the morning, they saw a group of 300 to 400 policemen walking down the hill at Curva del Diablo. Since the Indigenous protesters didn’t know who they were, they started climbing the mountain and met the policemen at midpoint, as the policemen were coming down. Once they faced each other, the police started shooting at the Indigenous protesters. That is when the first civilians were killed and the violence started which lasted four hours. After 30 minutes, helicopters appeared and tanks came by road.
Police attacked also urban areas
There was another attack of the police against civilians in the city of Bagua, half an hour from Curva del Diablo. When the Bagua habitants heard about the attacks, they gathered in front of the police station, and there were shot by police spinners who stood in the station’s roof. Half of all Bagua injured and killed people were result of this attack, including children.
Higher death toll
Also I asked Powless if he agrees with the official numbers given by the Peruvian government, saying that 34 people died in the Bagua massacre most of them policemen. Considering that the policemen were militarily trained and armed unlike the civilians, there are doubts. Ben says that according to urban witnesses in Bagua, the Indigenous protesters were not armed and that is possible that there were more killed people.
Powless says that there are missing people who haven’t returned to their homes and there is not sign about their whereabouts, so there is a need for an international investigation with the participation of Indigenous groups and human rights advocates.
The people of Bagua say that they were brutally attacked and there are many still injured. The police prevented them from rescuing dead and injured bodies yelling at them things like “get out you dog before I kill you, don’t get close!” About the rumors of dead bodies being burned down and thrown to the river or taken away by helicopters, Powless said that he also heard that version from locals, but there is not much evidence or a way to prove that, which makes it hard for any potential investigation.
Betrayed
There is a lasting feeling among the people in Bagua, more than anger they feel that their own government has betrayed them. They say “we are also Peruvians, we are participating of this democracy and we don’t want violence, we never asked for that… why is that this government has responded with such violence against its own citizens,” Among those Indigenous protesters, some were former soldiers of the Peruvian army who fought during the war against Ecuador in 1995, and Powless said they didn’t have any guns.
Policemen killed by Natives
There were 24 policemen killed, but the Peru’s government and the media in Lima haven’t mentioned that these crimes didn’t occur in Bagua. Those officers were in charge of security at the oil pumping station #6, about 80 km. from Bagua. Powless says that the Indigenous peoples had taken the station as a protest against the free trade decrees of the Peruvian government, but they had a peace accord with the police.
When the Amazonian peoples heard of the Bagua attacks, they initially agreed on not attacking the officers. After hearing by phone of the horror stories coming from Curva del Diablo, they felt that this was a war and were panicked so they acted in self defense and revenge. Unfortunately, only one of the 25 policemen survived.
Racism in Peru and international responsibility
The racism of the Garcia administration was denounced, with its disdain against Indigenous peoples who were referred as second class citizens who were called terrorists and savages by Alan Garcia. Also the people of Lima –a huge city- are not connected to the rest of the country’s reality Powell said.
Finally, Ben Powless said that there is a need for international awareness, because the violence in Peru can happen again if the Garcia administration feels that there will not be consequences from their actions. He said that the U.S. government should assume its responsibility also, as the Bagua killings were caused by the free trade policies promoted from the United States.
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