The UN Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination [8] on Sept. 2 issued a statement expressing "concern" about the "disproportionate use of force" against indigenous protesters in Peru. (Celendin Libre [9], AIDESEP [10], Sept. 2) The statement came the same day that a 16-year-old protester, Jhapet Claysont Huilca Pereira, was shot dead by National Police troops at Santa Teresa village in the Valley of La Convención, Cuzco region, during a protest against construction of the Gasoducto Sur Peruano [11] through local lands. Protesters were blocking to road leading to the tourist attraction of Machu Picchu, charging corruption in the process by which the new gas duct gained a right-of-way through their lands. The parents of the fallen youth are demanding the resignation of Interior Minister Daniel Urresti Elera [12]. Lawmaker Verónika Mendoza has also called on Urresti to give a full accounting of the incident, saying, "It is unacceptable that firearms are used in dealing with social conflicts." (La República [13], Sept. 4 La República [14], Celendin Libre [15], Celendin Libre [16], Sept. 3)
Also Sept. 2, National Police troops used tear gas against protesters near the site of the Cerro Verde [17] mine in Arequipa region. Residents of Uchumayo were angered when Cerro Verde closed the only road leading to their community to facilitate construction of a wastewater treatment plant for the planned mine. (Celendin Libre [18], Sept. 3; Voces de la Tierra [19]. Sept. 2)
Four days earlier at Islay, also in Arequipa, hundreds of local residents blocked roads to protest the disputed Tía María [20] mining project. Protesters charged that the project's environmental impact study had been conducted with "lack of respect" for local residents who would be impacted. (Servindi [21], Aug. 28)