Peru Court Sends Four Men to Prison for Murdering Indigenous Amazon Defender

A Peruvian court has handed down lengthy prison terms to four men convicted of murdering Indigenous Amazon defender Quinto Inuma Alvarado in November 2023. Genix Saboya Saboya and Limber Ríos Ruiz each received a 35-year sentence, while Segundo Juan Villalobos Guevara was sentenced to 28 years and four months for ordering the killing. Jerly Saboya Saboya, an accomplice, will spend 15 years in prison.

Inuma, a 50-year-old Kichwa leader, was shot dead as he returned to his community after attending a national meeting of environmental defenders. A woman traveling with him was wounded in the attack. Prosecutors accused Villalobos of ordering the killing due to Inuma's efforts to stop illegal logging on his community's land.

The case is seen as a test of accountability for violence against Indigenous and environmental defenders in the Amazon. Tom Younger, Peru program coordinator at the Forest Peoples Program, called the sentences a 'decisive step towards justice'.