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Brother Paul McAuley is a hero among the indigenous tribes of the Peruvian Amazon, but the 62-year-old missionary from Portsmouth has made such a nuisance of himself in his campaign for tribal rights that Peru’s government has ordered his expulsion, writes Jonathan Rugman.
“If I have to go, I’ll get carried out,” he told me last week. “I won’t resist because I respect Peruvian law, but I won’t have the energy to take any steps to walk. That would be to betray these people.
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US ORGANIZATIONS SUPPORT BROTHER PAUL
Tnte. Gral. PNP Octavio Salazar Miranda
Ministro del Interior
Ministerio del Interior
Plaza 30 de agosto s/n Urb. Corpac
San Isidro
Peru
Correo electrónico:
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CC:
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July 19, 2010
Dear Minister Salazar,
The undersigned organizations and individuals, mostly based in the United States, write to express our profound concern at the threatened expulsion of Brother Paul Michael John Thomas McAuley. On July 1, 2010 he was given a 7-day expulsion order to leave Peru. We are pleased that a court in Loreto overturned the expulsion order. We call upon you to respect that decision and to take no further action to prevent Brother Paul from continuing his important work.
The work of Brother Paul McAuley is well known in Peru and abroad. His dedication to the defense of the environment and the rights of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon is an example to many. We stand with him in his concern regarding resource extraction practices that damage the environment and threaten the well being of the indigenous peoples of the Peruvian Amazon. We are deeply troubled that his efforts to ensure due process for indigenous peoples, including free, prior and informed consent regarding resource extraction projects, could be construed as a basis for his expulsion from Peru.
Our organizations have a long history in the defense of human rights in the Americas, and many of us are in close communication with the U.S. Administration and Congress on these matters. We view this case with the utmost seriousness. We respectfully request that you take no further action to impede Brother Paul’s continued residence and service in Peru.
Sincerely,
Amazon Watch
Almuth Ernsting
Biofuelwatch
United Kingdom/United States
Brother Dennis Malloy, FSC
Provincial
Brothers of the Christian Schools
District of Eastern North America
Eatontown, NJ
Brother Timothy Coldwell, FSC
Visitor (Provincial, New Orleans-Santa Fe District)
Brothers of the Christian Schools (De La Salle)
Lafayette, Louisiana
Brother Robert Schieler, FSC
General Councilor
United States-Toronto Region
Christian Brothers Conference
Washington, DC
T. Michael McNulty, SJ
Justice and Peace Director
Conference of Major Superiors of Men
Silver Spring, MD
Ecumenical Committee of English Speaking Church Personnel in Nicaragua (CEPRHI)
Philip McManus
Co-Chair
Forging Alliances South and North
Santa Cruz, California
Amanda Martin
Director
Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA
Washington, D.C.
Anita Seth
Executive Director
IF
Corralitos, California
Daphne Wysham
Fellow
Institute for Policy Studies
Washington, DC
Margaret H. Law
Founding Director
International Media Project
Marianne Salmon Gauss
Assistant Professor
La Salle University
Philadelphia, PA
Latin American /Caribbean Committee of the Loretto Community
John T. Law, President
Law Investment Company
David Kane
Associate for Latin America and Economic Justice
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Washington, DC
Rev. Fr Seamus Finn, OMI
Director- Missionary Oblates Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation office,
Washington D.C
Rebecca Sommer
NGO Society for Threatened Peoples International
Indigenous Peoples Department
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas – Institute Justice Team
Silver Spring, MD
Soumya Dutta
Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha
South Asian Dialogues on Ecological Democracy
John Lindsay-Poland
U.S. Fellowship of Reconciliation Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean
Oakland, California
Joy Olson
Executive Director
Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)
Washington, DC
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