A trial is set to begin Tuesday in Peru for five men accused in the killing of Kichwa Indigenous leader Quinto Inuma Alvarado, prosecutors said in a case prosecutors and advocates described as rare for environmental defenders in the Amazon.
Inuma, 50, was killed on Nov. 29, 2023, after repeatedly denouncing illegal activity within his community’s territory, according to reporting from The Associated Press. Prosecutors are seeking life sentences under charges of contract killing.
Advocates and prosecutors said the outcome could test whether Peru can hold perpetrators accountable for violence linked to illegal logging and drug trafficking in one of the world’s most dangerous regions for environmental defenders. They said community leaders who defend forests and land rights often face threats with little protection and few cases reaching court.
Kevin Arnol Inuma, 30, told AP that his father was deeply committed to his territory and community. “My father was deeply committed to his territory and his community,” he said. In a separate message to AP, Kevin said, “Being a real environmental defender requires a lot of sacrifice — walking through the forest, in sun and rain, and exposing yourself to danger.”
Kevin also said his father had warned his family about the risks, telling them that one day he might be killed and that they should prepare. “He used to tell us that one day they might kill him and that we should be prepared,” Kevin told AP.
Cristina Gavancho, a Lima-based lawyer with the Instituto de Defensa Legal, said the killing was foreseeable. She said Inuma was returning to his community after participating in an event for defenders and Indigenous people when he was ambushed and killed. “What happened was a result that was already foreseeable,” Gavancho said. “He was returning to his community after participating in an event for defenders and Indigenous people, and he was ambushed and killed.”
Prosecutors allege the perpetrators — believed to be illegal loggers — targeted Inuma because of his role defending Indigenous land and reporting illegal activities to authorities. The AP report said the attack occurred as Inuma traveled by boat along a river route used to reach his community, that he was shot and fell into the river, and that another community member was wounded and survived.
Prosecutors said they built a case including forensic gunshot-residue tests and witness testimony placing the accused at the scene around the time of the killing. Investigators also tied the suspects to individuals Inuma had repeatedly reported to authorities for illegal logging and drug trafficking, AP said.
Five of the six suspects originally charged are scheduled to face trial, AP reported. A sixth suspect was killed in an attempted arrest last year after he attacked police officers with a machete, according to Gavancho.
Advocates said a life-sentencing outcome would be unprecedented in Peru for a killing of an Indigenous environmental defender. Gavancho said the case is significant because it is an opportunity for the Peruvian state to establish an exemplary sanction. “This case is significant because it is the opportunity that the Peruvian state has to establish an exemplary sanction,” she said. She also said convictions could signal that such crimes will no longer go unpunished in Peru and potentially further afield in Latin America.
The case has also highlighted what advocates describe as failures in Peru’s protection system for environmental and Indigenous defenders. AP said Inuma had been granted a security detail under a state protection mechanism created in 2021, but the measures were never implemented. Gavancho said the ordered protection was never carried out due to lack of budget, and that the state acknowledged those failures before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and U.N. rapporteurs.
Matías Pérez Ojea del Arco, advocacy coordinator for Peru at Forest Peoples Programme, said Inuma had paperwork intended to protect him but was still killed, describing the shortcomings as a failure that “stays on paper.” “Quinto Inuma had all the paperwork that was supposed to protect his life, and he was still killed,” Pérez Ojea del Arco said. He added: “These protection mechanisms stay on paper,” and “Paper does not stop bullets.”
International bodies are watching the proceedings. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights granted precautionary measures to Inuma’s community in early 2024, and U.N. rapporteurs have urged Peru to ensure justice, AP said. Mary Lawlor, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, told AP that the investigation itself represents a rare step forward, saying the state’s work identified both alleged perpetrators and alleged intellectual authors behind the killing. “So often where people are killed for defending human rights the crime is never investigated, and the perpetrators are never prosecuted,” Lawlor said. “The fact that the state’s investigation has identified both the alleged perpetrators and alleged intellectual authors behind Quinto’s killing is, sadly, ground breaking.”
Kevin Inuma said the trial cannot undo what his family has lost. “Living in the city feels like being imprisoned,” he said. “It is not our territory, and it has been very hard for our family.” He said his family now depends on money for basic needs such as food, health care and education, after being forced to leave their community. “Even if there is justice, it won’t bring my father back,” he said. “We will never see him again.”