Virginia Pinares Ochoa
Virginia Pinares Ochoa is a Quechua-speaking human rights defender from the community of Q’ocha. She is the leader of her community and a prominent environmental defender working on the defence of the right to a healthy environment for everyone. In 2022, she was recognised with the "Mamá Angélica" Human Rights Award by the National Coordinator of Human Rights".
Virginia Pinares served as President of the Interprovince Struggle Committee of Cotabambas-Grau during the 2015 protests facing the impact of the activities of the Las Bambas mine, where she demanded compliance with rules of prior consultation with the population due to the modification of the environmental impact assessment of the mine.
Due to her leadership and human rights work, she was subjected to persecution and criminalisation, and was unjustly sentenced to eight years and ten months 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.
