Peru’s Congress has repealed two laws that sparked a June 5 clash between Amazonian Indians and police in which at least 33 people died. The measures overturned June 18 are among a series of legislative decrees that protestors view as threats to their land rights and rainforest resources. Twenty-four victims of the violence were police; some had been held hostage by protestors who had seized a pumping station on a pipeline that carries crude oil from northern Amazonian fields to the Pacific coast. Nine civilians were confirmed dead, and the government Ombudsman’s Office was investigating reports of additional deaths, clandestine graves and bodies dumped in rivers, according to the office’s head, Beatriz Merino. The clash occurred near the northern town of Bagua when police... [Log in to read more]