6 May 2010 | News | Linking Alternatives 4 | Human rights
Justice Demanded
Bayer denounced for poisoning children in Peru
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Tauccamarca community, located near Cuzco, Peru, is home to 300 inhabitants who depend on agriculture and cattle. On October 22nd, 1999, this community was hit by a tragedy when 44 children were poisoned for eating breakfast contaminated with pesticide Paration, produced by Bayer, in their school. 24 children died, and the rest have serious neurological consequences and learning disabilities.
This is why the Action Network on Alternative Agriculture (RAAA) will submit a complaint against the German corporation at the Permanent Peoples´ Tribunal which will be carried out in Madrid, Spain.
The RAAA had previously pointed out that Bayer introduced Paration in Peru to trade it specifically in small and medium farms, from communities such as Tauccamarca. According to the denunciation filed by the network to the PPT in Lima, 2008, Bayer knew beforehand that Paration would be used by Quechua indigenous people, many of whom are illiterate, and couldn’t read the tags of the product, which didn´t contain enough information nevertheless. “The company did not provide any kind of technical advice to users”, said RAAA.
While the community has been claiming justice since this sad event took place, the judicial processes filed by them have been paralyzed due to the “pressure of the company to make the case be forgotten”, states the RAAA in a document submitted to the PPT which will session in Madrid.
