‘There is no doubt in my mind that there are uncontacted groups there,’ said another consultant. ‘I was really upset when I saw the final report.’

The Guardian also quotes a forestry engineer who has investigated the impacts of seismic tests for oil exploration in the region where Perenco is working. ‘They said there were no uncontacted groups. But there were footprints, signs of dwellings.’

The Guardian article is available here.There is also a Guardian film.

Survival has also published a video in which eyewitnesses to the recent violence in Peru’s Amazon give a dramatic account of what happened. A PDF report of the eyewitness account is also available. The massive boom in oil exploration in the Amazon was one of the key concerns of the indigenous protests.

For more information please contact Miriam Ross at Survival International on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or (+44) (0)7504 543 367 or email mr@survival-international.org

Read Survival's eye-witness report on the events in Bagua.

The charges are part of a wider government crackdown. Seven congressmen and -women have been suspended, a radio that broadcast coverage of the violence in the town of Bagua has had its licence withdrawn, and moves are afoot to clamp down on NGOs.

One Cabinet minister has resigned following the violence. Peru’s Prime Minister, Yehude Simon, has said he will also resign when ‘calm’ in the country is restored.

Meanwhile, thousands of people around the world have come out in support of Peru’s indigenous people. These include film star Q’orianka Kilcher, of indigenous Peruvian descent, who played Pocahontas in the film ‘The New World’.

Download the report 'Death at Devil's Bend: an eyewitness account' (PDF)

For more information and images please contact Miriam Ross on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or (+44) (0)7504 543 367 or email mr@survival-international.org

We apologise to Bianca Jagger for saying she was a sponsor of the 'global convention on climate security', a claim wrongly made by the World Environment Foundation. We applaud Ms Jagger’s human rights work and regret any distress or embarrassment caused.

The Congressional Foreign Relations Committee is examining a proposal to restrict the funding of Peruvian NGOs by outside agencies. Many indigenous organizations receive financial support from Western funding agencies, and have done for decades.

In a related development, a senior Congressman, Luis Gonzales Posada, has attacked Survival International and Amazon Watch for ‘promoting a campaign of slander against Peru’, and has suggested the government sue them for $100 million. President Garcia has also falsely alleged that ‘international NGOs’ have incited the violence.

Stephen Corry, Director of Survival International, said today, ‘Rather than worrying about the activities of NGOs, the Peruvian authorities and Congressmen ought to be seriously worried about what the events of the last 11 days have done to Peru's international reputation, which lies in tatters.

‘The truth about what happened at ‘the Amazon’s Tiananmen’ is slowly emerging, but what is really needed is an independent and impartial inquiry. Already it seems clear that a large number of indigenous people have disappeared, and that is obviously very worrying.

‘Whilst it is important to condemn unreservedly the killings of police officers, the blame for the tragic events seems to lie primarily with the extremely heavy-handed police tactics, but more fundamentally, with the Garcia government's aggressive push to open up the Amazon to oil, gas and logging firms over the heads of the indigenous communities whose home it is.

‘Survival International is also very concerned at attempts to demonize AIDESEP, which is a long-established and highly-respected organization. Its founder, Evaristo Nugkuag, won the Alternative Nobel Prize.’

For more information and images please contact Miriam Ross on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or (+44) (0)7504 543 367 or email mr@survival-international.org

» Please write to Peru's President

EU officials, who were visiting the country, called on the Bangladesh government to implement the 1997 Peace Accord it signed with the Jumma tribal people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) when it was last in power.

The EU noted that more than 11 years after the signing of the treaty, many of the tribal people displaced by conflict in the Hill Tracts have still not returned to their land. It also called on the government to activate the Land Commission in order to resolve land disputes and hold elections to regional councils.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is reported to have told the EU delegation that her government would implement the peace treaty fully. A committee, led by Deputy Leader of the House Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, has been formed in order to ensure its full implementation.

Local activists, however, say that despite election pledges and the formation of a number of committees, no changes have been seen in the lives of the tribal people.

Shirin Lira, Co-ordinator of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission, which is co-chaired by Britain’s Lord Avebury, said,  ‘Human rights violations including torture, killings, harassment of Buddhist monks, sexual violence against women and children and the dispossession of indigenous peoples’ lands by Bengali settlers and military personnel are regularly reported.’

Write a letter in support of the Jumma tribal peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts

–ENDS–

For more information please contact Miriam Ross at Survival International on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or (+44) (0)7504 543 367 or email mr@survival-international.org

Pizango was charged with ‘sedition, conspiracy and rebellion’ following the violent confrontation between hundreds of indigenous protesters blockading a road near the town of Bagua in northern Peru, and riot police intent on breaking up the protest.

The violent tactics used by the police, firing automatic weapons at Indians who were peacefully protesting, resulted in many deaths on both sides.

At least 30 Indians are thought to have been killed, but indigenous organisations believe the real figure is significantly higher, and have accused the police of throwing large numbers of bodies into the Marañon river. More than 20 police officers are also believed to have died.

Peru’s President Alan Garcia has labelled the indigenous protesters ‘savages’, ‘barbaric’, ‘ignorant’ and ‘second-class citizens’.

The Indians’ protests started two months ago in response to a series of government decrees promoting the opening up of their lands to oil and gas companies. In recent years more than 70% of Peru’s Amazon has been auctioned off to oil companies, with the Indians rarely being consulted.

Frustrated by the refusal of the authorities to negotiate with them, AIDESEP called for a series of peaceful protests. Indian communities throughout central and northern Peru have been blockading rivers and roads in a successful attempt to halt the oil industry traffic.

Survival has called for oil and gas companies in the Amazon to suspend their operations until the government agrees to peaceful negotiations with the Indians’ representatives; for an independent and impartial inquiry into the tragic events near Bagua; and for the lifting of all charges against Sr. Pizango.

Act now: write a letter for the Peruvian Indians

The companies include Anglo-French Perenco (a major gas supplier to the UK), Argentina’s PlusPetrol, Canada’s Petrolifera, Spain’s Repsol, Brazil’s Petrobras and many others.

Violent clashes on Friday between Amazon Indians blockading roads and rivers, and police and army units intent on breaking up the protests have left dozens of Indians, and at least 23 policemen, dead.

The Indians have been protesting for two months against a series of laws which open up their communal rainforests to oil and gas companies. In the last few years more than 70% of the Amazon has been parcelled out to oil and gas companies for exploration, and a series of large-scale finds threaten to transform much of the Indians’ virgin forests. Similar schemes in neighbouring Ecuador have had a devastating effect on the rainforest, and led to chronic pollution and ill-health amongst the Indians who live there.

The government’s response to the protests has been dismissive: President Garcia has rebuffed attempts by Congress to debate the laws at the centre of the controversy, labelling the protests ‘a conspiracy’ and the protesters ‘ignorant’. Peruvian Indian leader Alberto Pizango, speaking before he went into hiding, said, ‘We feel that the government has always treated us as second-class citizens’.

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘Peruvian Indians are being driven to desperate measures to try and save their lands which have been stolen from them for five centuries.

‘Their protests signal that the colonial era has finally drawn to a close. No longer are Amazon Indians prepared to put up with the illegal and brutal treatment which has been routine. That’s finished. This is the Amazon’s Tiananmen. If it finishes the same way, it will also end Peru’s international reputation.

‘Oil companies operating in Peru should suspend their operations until calm is restored and the Indians’ communal land rights are properly respected – only then can they negotiate as equals.’

For more information and images please contact Miriam Ross at Survival International on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or (+44) (0)7504 543 367 or email mr@survival-international.org

Peru's indigenous protests are gaining support from more and more sectors of Peruvian society, including the church, agricultural workers, local politicians, and labour unions.

The protests, held since 9 April, are in response to government laws and policies that violate indigenous peoples’ rights and make it easier for outsiders to seize control of their territories.

There are now protests in many parts of the country, mainly in the Amazon where rivers and roads have been blockaded, a bridge closed and many marches held. The protesters are from many different indigenous groups, including the Achuar, Arabela, Asháninka, Awajún, Huambisa, Kichwa, Matsigenka, Shawi and Wampis.

The protesters, led by national Amazon Indian organisation AIDESEP, are refusing to go home until the government repeals a series of laws. In frustration at the government’s response, which has included sending in the armed forces and the repeated suspension of discussion of the controversial laws, some indigenous groups are threatening to ‘radicalise’ their protests.

On the Napo River, in northern Peru, boats belonging to Anglo-French oil company Perenco have broken through a blockade with the aid of navy gunboats. Local people are scared and intimidated, and have condemned the militarization of the region.

AIDESEP is now heading a committee called, ‘The Committee for the Fight for Life and National Sovereignty’, made up of a number of different social organisations. A national demonstration has been announced for 11 June.

They are:

* Indians of the Pardo River, Brazil
* The Awá, Brazil
* Indians between the Napo and Tigre Rivers, Peru
* Indians of the Envira River, Peru
* The Ayoreo-Totobiegosode, Paraguay

These groups are all experiencing the invasion of their lands – by loggers, ranchers, colonists and oil companies – and all are at grave risk of being decimated by diseases to which they have no immunity.

The Awá, Rio Pardo Indians and Envira River Indians are all falling victim to the blight of illegal hardwood logging which is penetrating even the remotest parts of the Amazon.

The Ayoreo-Totobiegosode of the Chaco scrub forests in western Paraguay, on the other hand, are experiencing the illegal clearance of their forests by cattle ranchers. Satellite photos taken over the past year have revealed huge areas illegally cleared in the Indians’ heartland.

In the far north of Peru, the Indians living between the Napo and Tigre Rivers are caught in the middle of Peru’s oil boom. In recent years 75% of Peru’s Amazon has been carved up into oil and gas exploration concessions. Peru’s President has denied the existence of isolated Indians in the Napo/Tigre area, despite abundant evidence of their existence.

Survival’s report calls on the governments of Paraguay, Brazil and Peru urgently to protect the tribes’ lands.

Survival’s director Stephen Corry said today, ‘Publication of the photos a year ago caused a huge groundswell of support for the plight of uncontacted tribal people. Many had not realised that such people exist, let alone that there are more than 100 uncontacted tribes around the world. But many governments still refuse to take the simple step – properly protecting their territories – that will actually ensure the tribes’ survival.’

Read Survival's report and access images and video clips
Download report (PDF)

Note to Editors:
One month after Survival released the photos of the uncontacted Indians to the world’s press, Britain’s The Observer newspaper cast doubt on the story. Their article in turn prompted further reports falsely alleging that the photos were a hoax.  In August 2008 The Observer printed a retraction, admitting that its article was ‘inaccurate, misleading [and] distorted’, and making clear that the photos and Survival’s accompanying press release were ‘perfectly valid’.

For more information and images please contact Miriam Ross at Survival International on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or (+44) (0)7504 543 367 or email mr@survival-international.org

Download hi-res images