Quinto Inuma Alvarado

Infobox person name = Quinto Inuma Alvarado image = File:Quinto Inuma Alvarado.webp

caption = Quinto Inuma Alvarado on 11 October 2019 birth_date = birth_place = death_date = He was the apu of the indigenous community and one of the leading environmental defenders of the Department of San Martín. He was assassinated in 2023.

Throughout his life, Inuma fought against the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest in the Quechua lands. He denounced illegal logging and drug trafficking and advocated for legal protection of the Lower Huallaga region. He faced threats from loggers and drug traffickers. The Peruvian State assumed responsibility for his defense, but lacked the necessary resources to put his security into action. On 29 November 2023, while returning home from an environmental conference in Pucallpa, Inuma was shot three times and killed.

Career

From 2006 to 2014, Inuma worked as a park ranger at the Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas, at Cordillera Azul National Park.

In 2017, Quinto Inuma Alvarado became vice apu of the indigenous community, with his brother Manuel Inuma Alvarado serving as apu. He frequently denounced the logging of tree species in the Huimbayoc area, which made him the target of threats and violence. He advocated for the titling of his community and the preservation of forests in indigenous communities.

In July 2021, representatives of the Tarapoto Provincial Office Specialized in Crimes of Illicit Drug Trafficking entered the community in response to complaints against illegal loggers and cocaleros. In response, he was beaten and received death threats by cocaleros. He was evacuated by plane. After the website disseminated images of the injuries inflicted on Inuma, he temporarily took refuge in Tarapoto to protect his and his family's safety.

Quinto and Manuel Inuma led a group of indigenous forest patrollers. Inuma did not believe the authorities would help. The Peruvian State assumed responsibility of protecting him under the . Directorial Resolution No. 003-2021-JUS/DGDH formally guaranteed his personal security. It mandated police surveillance and protection, which was not put into action. According to attorney Cristina del Rosario Gavancho, "The mechanism was impossible to put into practice."

Inuma was assassinated on the evening of 29 November 2023, while returning home from Pucallpa.

One and a half hours before arriving to the community, the boat was intercepted near a creek called Bayada. Hooded individuals knocked down a tree to block the boat. Inuma, who had been driving the boat, got up and analyzed how to avoid the obstacle, when he was shot three times. The bullet shells wounded Barbarán Tapullima in the leg, buttock, and rib. She and the other occupants returned home on horseback and carried Inuma's body.

On 12 February 2024, at the Third Supraprovincial Prosecutor's Office Against Organized Crime, Genix Saboya Saboya confessed that he had shot Inuma in the back for a payment of 1000 soles from Segundo Villalobos Guevara, whom Inuma had denounced for illegal logging in Santa Rosillo. Genix named his uncle, Belustiano Saboya Pisco, as the one who fatally shot Inuma in the head.

On 24 August 2026, after a trial lasting eight months, four men - Segundo Villalobos Guevara, Genix Saboya Saboya, Limber Ríos Ruiz, and Jerly Saboya Saboya - were found guilty of Inuma's murder. The following day, Ríos and Genix Saboya were sentenced to 35 years in prison, Villalobos to 28 years, and Jerly Saboya to 15 years. A fifth defendant, Dedicación Vera Pardo, was acquitted of obstruction of justice.

Legacy At the for Climate Justice, celebrated in Cusco on 14 and 15 June 2024, Member of Congress Ruth Luque, president of the , posthumously paid tribute to several environmental leaders, including Inuma.