EU -LAT Network, with their members Terres des Hommes Francia, ASTM, AIETI, y Entrepueblos organise an European tour with two Peruvian Human Rights defenderes who will travel to Brussels, Luxembourg, Spain and France between 14 November and 1 December 2018.
The main themes of the visit will include the situation of peasant and indigenous communities in Peru – particularly affected by mining or oil extraction projects, violations of indigenous women’s rights, the increased criminalization of social protest and the negligent attitude of the State as a guarantor of indigenous peoples’ rights and collective rights.
ROCIO SILVA SANTISTEBAN MANRIQUE
Activist, feminist, university professor and consultant in Human Rights
She holds a PhD from Boston University, a master’s degree in Latin American Literature, a bachelor’s degree in Law and Political Science, and a diploma in gender studies. She has published several fiction and academic books, the latest being Mujeres y conflictos eco territoriales: impactos, estrategias, resistencias. She has been consultant on gender and youth issues, human rights, mediation and reconciliation. Between 2011 and 2015 she oversaw the executive direction of the National Coordination of Human Rights of Peru, accompanying (juridically, socially and politically) victims of human rights violations. She is currently a columnist for the newspaper La República (2007-2018), a member of the advisory committee of the Nature Rights Watch and a professor at the University Pontificia Católica and the Univeristy Nacional Mayor of San Marcos. She is also member of FEDEPAZ, a Peruvian human rights organization.
MARÍA LUZMILA BERMEO CHUINDA
Leader of the Amazonian people Awajún and the president of the Awajún and Wampis Women’s Council
As one of the first Awajún women to have access to formal education, she worked for years as a sewing teacher. At the same time, she has been actively involved in many women’s organizations and was appointed President of the Association of Women and Craftsmen in 2013, a position she still holds today. In 2017, she was recognized for her valuable contribution to the preservation of traditional techniques and ancestral knowledge related to the pottery of the Awajún people. With a long work of cultural rescue, María Luzmila has contributed to the revaluation of the role of women as main actors in the public life of her people.