Juan Pablo Cconislla Gallegos
Juan Pablo Cconislla Gallegos is a Quechua human rights defender from the Queuña community in Challhuahuacho, who works in farming and cultivating on the land which he now defends. He served as President of the Campesino Communities of Challhuahuacho Federation, from which he defended the communities of his district, demanding the respect of their collective rights and the compliance of agreements made with the population.
Due to his leadership and human rights work facing the impact of mining activities of the Las Bambas in 2015, he was subjected to persecution and criminalisation, and was unjustly sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison. The Court also ordered him, 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.
