In August 2007, the Peruvian government approved oil and gas exploration in the traditional territories of the indigenous Cacataibo communities, without their prior informed consent. The Cacataibo are indigenous peoples that live in the watershed of the Aguaytía, San Alejandro and Zungaruyacu rivers, located in the central Peruvian rainforest. There are approximately 7,000 Cacataibo people that live in communities that either already have legal title or are in the process of land titling. In addition, there still exist Cacataibo peoples living in voluntary isolation (referred to as “Camanos”) in the headwaters of the rivers and nearby mountain range (Cordillera Azul).
With the approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the 2D Seismic Project for Block 107, the “Petrolifera” company, which is headquartered in Canada, will soon begin oil and gas exploration using dynamite blasts that threaten the life and the personal integrity of the Cacataibo peoples in voluntary isolation. Additionally, although the settled Cacataibo communities, in collaboration with civil society organizations, proposed the creation of territorial reserves for the protection of the isolated Cacataibo peoples years ago, the proposed territorial reserves have still not been created.
This note describes the situation of the Cacataibo peoples in voluntary isolation who are threatened by oil and gas exploration, as well as possible actions before the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR).