Ashéninka leader Américo Pascuala Tumisha was shot and killed Aug. 23 while patrolling the territory of the Onconashari Indigenous community in Peru’s Ucayali region.Onconashari residents have reported incursions linked to unauthorized copaiba extraction since at least 2020, including threats against community members who objected.The community has a long history of territorial monitoring and in 2025 received formal government recognition for its Forest Surveillance and Control Committee, which Pascuala later coordinated.Global Witness has documented more than 60 killings and disappearances of environmental and land defenders in Peru since 2012; AIDESEP says at least 38 Indigenous defenders were killed in the Peruvian Amazon between 2014 and 2026.
Ashéninka leader Américo Pascuala Tumisha was shot and killed on Sunday while patrolling the territory of the Onconashari Indigenous community in Peru’s Ucayali region.
According to the Regional Organization AIDESEP Ucayali (ORAU), Pascuala encountered people who were allegedly extracting copaiba oil without permission inside the community’s territory. A confrontation followed, and he was fatally shot. Pascuala was serving as coordinator of Onconashari’s territorial surveillance committee at the time of his death. He was previously chief of the community.
