Lisbeth Abarca Peña
Lisbeth Abarca Peña is a teacher and woman human rights defender from Pambobamba, Cotabambas, Apurímac. As an environmental defender, she has worked to protect her community from the negative impacts of mining activity in the territory.
She served as President of the Neighbourhood Committee of the Huancayo neighbourhood of Tambobamba during the 2015 protests facing the impact of the activities of the Las Bambas mine, which demanded transparency and community participation in decisions affecting their territory.
Due to her leadership and human rights work, she was subjected to persecution and criminalisation, and was unjustly sentenced to nine years in prison. The Court also ordered her, along with a group of other criminalised defenders, to pay a civil reparation fine which collectively amounted to 50,000 Peruvian sol for the State and 88,600 U.S. dollars for the Las Bambas mining company.
While many human rights defenders (HRDs) can operate freely in Peru, those working on the environment, in particular on the environmental and human rights impact of the extractive industry, face harsh repression, including intimidation, smear campaigns, death threats, surveillance, and judicial harassment. Journalists and trade unionists have also been targeted.
