In the capital Lima, the demonstrators, some in traditional clothing, denounced the deaths of Phillips and Pereira. “The blood that was spilled will never be forgotten,” chanted the protesters on their march to the Peruvian Ministry of Justice.
The demonstrators also called for more protection of natural resources in indigenous areas. Participants at the forefront of the demonstration carried banners reading “Protection for Land, Water and Life”.
After the murders of Phillips and Pereira in the Brazilian Amazon, indigenous representatives in Brazil on Friday rejected the police assessment that no criminal gangs were involved in the crime. The US government called for a thorough investigation into the background.
Phillips and Pereira went missing on June 5 while on a field trip in the Amazon. Ten days later, a suspect led police to a location where he said he had buried their bodies.
Human remains unearthed at the site were taken to Brasília for identification on Thursday. On Friday, police confirmed that one of the dead had been positively identified by forensic scientists as Dom Philips. So far, two suspects have been arrested.
–
