On Sunday 26 April, 2020, twenty-five year old Benjamin Ríos Urimishi, a member of the asháninka people, was shot dead in the province of Atalaya, Peru.

He was working in a remote area when he was shot in front of his wife and children. Rios Urimishi was a member of the local indigenous rights organisation, ODIT.

Indigenous peoples are increasingly under attack in Peru from land grabbers and narco traffickers

It is estimated that  15 indigenous  communities, and their leaders, in the area of  Huánuco y Ucayali, are under threat from land grabbers and narco traffickers. Leaders of 8 indigenous communities went to Lima recently to stress the dangers they were facing but nothing has been done.

Peru does have a system of protection for human rights defenders but it is only effective in the cities. Human rights defenders at risk outside the cities are left to their own devices.