ProtectDefenders.eu has received information on the ongoing criminalisation process—initiated a decade ago—against eleven human rights defenders and community leaders from Cotabambas (Apurímac), due to their opposition to the Las Bambas mining project. The appeal hearings began on 31 March 2025 and were expected to conclude within 15 days. The final hearing took place on 4 April, during which the defense presented their case. Each human rights defender had only two minutes to testify.
The criminalised indigenous and campesino leaders—Virginia Pinares Ochoa, Rodolfo Abarca Quispe, Lisbeth Abarca Peña, Ronald Andrés Bello Abarca, Juan Pablo Cconislla Gallegos, Maximiliano Huachaca Mamani, Alem Torre Garcés, Jacinto Lima Lucas, Walter Moreano Andrada, Romualdo Ochoa Aysa, and Cosme Bolívar Escudero—are Quechua-speaking environmental defenders and leaders from communities directly affected by the Las Bambas project.
The judicial process stems from events in September 2015, when communities protested to demand transparency and prior consultation about the environmental and social impacts of the Las Bambas mining project. Las Bambas, the largest copper extraction operation in Peru and the largest Chinese-owned mining property in Latin America, has caused serious socio-environmental consequences in the Apurímac region.
Instead of addressing these concerns, the government and mining company filed criminal complaints against the protest leaders for alleged offenses, including aggravated damage, rioting, and hindering public services.
In July 2024, the Criminal Court of Cotabambas sentenced the eleven defenders to eight to nine years in prison, along with financial compensation of 50,000 soles to the state and $88,600 USD to the company. An appeal was filed and is now under review by the Criminal Chamber of Appeals of the Supreme Court of Justice of Apurímac.
This judicial persecution exemplifies a systematic pattern of criminalisation of human rights defenders involved in socio-environmental conflicts in Peru.
