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Photos Reveal 'Amazon Tiananmen'

Photos from Peru add weight to claims government covered up massacre

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 19, 2009 2:39 AM CDT

(Newser) – Graphic photographs taken by aid workers reveal the extent of violence Peru's military used to crush a land-rights protest by indigenous people earlier this month, the Independent reports. Police are seen pulling injured protesters from ambulances and beating them and bodies are seen piled by the roadside, adding weight to accusations that the government has covered up the true death toll.

Human rights groups say the death toll is much higher than the 32 claimed by the Peruvian government, and that hundreds of people are still missing. International observers were prevented from visiting the Amazon region for weeks after the incident. "There needs to be an independent investigation to establish exactly what happened," said a spokesman for a human rights group.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

Police move in on indigenous people protesting the sale of their ancestral lands to energy and mining companies. (Cataba)

This photograph was taken by a Belgian aid worker as police cleared protesters from a highway in Peru's Amazon region. (Catapa)

Police are seen beating a protester near Bagua Grande, Peru, June 5, 2009. (Cataba)

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At first, we saw police firing guns and tear gas at a mass of protesters. Then we saw them beating and kicking people detained on the ground. Later, they shot people in the back as they started fleeing.
- photographer Marijke Deleu

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Photos Reveal 'Amazon Tiananmen'