Lima, Peru – August 20, 2025. After over a decade of legal struggle, Elmer Eduardo Campos Álvarez, an environmental defender from Cajamarca, Peru, has won long-awaited reparations in his case against the commanding officers of the National Police.
On November 29, 2011, Campos Álvarez joined a group of residents in Cajamarca, Peru, in a non-violent demonstration against the Conga mine project. The mine, planned by Minera Yanacocha, a company majority-owned by Colorado-based Newmont Mining Corporation, posed serious environmental risks to local water sources and ecosystems.
That day, water defenders gathered to voice their concerns. Instead, they were met with violent repression. Peruvian police officers under contract with Minera Yanacocha responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, and live ammunition. At least 24 civilians were injured.
While trying to help an injured friend, Campos Álvarez was shot in the back. The gunfire turned his life upside down: he lost a kidney and his spleen, and suffered a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the waist down.
Peruvian police who injured the water defenders were acting under a private contract with Minera Yanacocha to provide security at the Conga site – an alarming example of how extractive industries in Peru have weaponized state forces against those defending their lands and rights.
In a decision handed down in July, a Peruvian court (the Juzgado Penal Unipersonal de Celendín) determined that the use of force by the police was disproportionate, and found two commanding officers of the National Police responsible for failing to prevent the brutal violence Campos Álvarez and others suffered during the protest against the proposed Conga mine.
While the officers were spared jail time by operation of a Peruvian law establishing a time limit for prosecutions, the Peruvian court held the accused and the Ministry of the Interior civilly liable, and ordered the state to pay civil reparations to Campos Álvarez and others injured in the crackdown. Lawyers for the victims announced that they would appeal the court’s decision to deny criminal penalties and continue to push for more robust justice.
Nonetheless, the decision represents a victory, albeit a partial one, for Campos Álvarez and for communities across Peru who continue to resist extractive projects that threaten their lands, water, and way of life.
EarthRights Provides Support in the Long Struggle for Justice
The EarthRights team worked together with Campos Álvarez to gather necessary evidence to advance his case in Peru.
In 2014, EarthRights filed an application for discovery from Newmont Mining Corporation on behalf of Campos Álvarez with the District Court of Colorado under 28 U.S.C. § 1782, a law that allows parties in foreign legal proceedings to obtain documents and information from individuals or companies in the United States in service of the foreign proceedings. The petition sought internal documents, communications, photos, and videos from Newmont and its Peruvian affiliate, Minera Yanacocha.
In 2015, the court granted the petition, and EarthRights obtained more than 500 documents and a sworn deposition from Newmont’s then-security chief, Otto Sloane. This evidence proved instrumental in advancing the Peruvian proceedings.
The evidence gathered by EarthRights helped expose the coordination between the company and police, and supported the argument that the injuries suffered by Campos Álvarez were the result of unlawful use of force under a security agreement that blurred the lines between public policing and private interest.
Standing Together With Defenders Across the Globe
The court’s ruling falls short of full accountability. Under the ruling, the police officers will not serve prison time, and Minera Yanacocha was not held responsible.
It does, however, mark an important legal and symbolic victory. It affirms that the state’s use of force against peaceful protesters in Cajamarca is not beyond scrutiny or consequence.
EarthRights is proud to have supported Campos Álvarez in his pursuit of justice, together with our partner organization, La Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos (National Coordinator of Human Rights), and Grufides, who provided legal representation in Peru throughout the case.
This case is a testament to the power of community resistance, strategic legal action, and the enduring courage of those who stand up for their rights, no matter the cost.
As extractive industries continue expanding across the Global South at the expense of Indigenous and local communities, cases like this remind us that accountability is possible and that the fight for justice is far from over.
