CCPR/C/95/D/1457/2006 page 4 paragraph 2; article 2, paragraph 3 (a); article 14, paragraph 1; and article 17 of the Covenant. The Optional Protocol entered into force for the State party on 3 January 1981. The author is represented by counsel, Tomás Alarcón. Factual background 2.1 The author and her children are the owners of the “Parco-Viluyo” alpaca farm, situated in the district of Palca, in the province and region of Tacna. They raise alpacas, llamas and other smaller animals, and this activity is their only means of subsistence. The farm is situated on the Andean altiplano at 4,000 metres above sea level, where there are only grasslands for grazing and underground springs that bring water to the highland wetlands. The farm covers over 350 hectares of pasture land, and part of it is a wetland area that runs along the former course of the river Uchusuma, which supports more than eight families. 2.2 In the 1950s, the Government of Peru diverted the course of the river Uchusuma, a measure which deprived the wetlands situated on the author’s farm of the surface water that sustained the pastures where her animals grazed. Nevertheless, the wetlands continued to receive groundwater that came from the Patajpujo area, which is upstream of the farm. However, in the 1970s the Government drilled wells (known as the Ayro wells) to draw groundwater in Patajpujo, which considerably reduced the water supply to the pastures and to areas where water was drawn for human and animal consumption. The author claims that this caused the gradual drying out of the wetlands where llama-raising is practised in accordance with the traditional customs of the affected families, who are descendants of the Aymara people, and which has been part of their way of life for thousands of years. 2.3 In the 1980s, the State party continued its project to divert water from the Andes to the Pacific coast in order to provide water for the city of Tacna. In the early 1990s, the Government approved a new project entitled the Special Tacna Project (Proyecto Especial Tacna (PET)), under the supervision of the National Institute for Development (INADE). This project involved the construction of 12 new wells in the Ayro region, and a plan to build a further 50 wells subsequently. The author observes that this measure accelerated the drainage and degradation of 10,000 hectares of the Aymaras’ pastures and caused the death of large quantities of livestock. The work was carried out despite the fact that no decision had been taken to approve an environmental impact assessment, which is required under article 5 of the Code on the Environment and Natural Resources. In addition, the wells were not registered in the Water Resources Register kept by the National Institute of Natural Resources (INRENA). 2.4 In 1994 various members of the Aymara community held demonstrations in the Ayro region, which were broken up by the police and armed forces. The author contends that the leader of the community, Juan Cruz Quispe, who prevented the construction of the 50 wells planned under PET, was murdered in the Palca district and that his death was never investigated. 2.5 According to the author, following a series of protests by the indigenous community, including a collective complaint addressed to the Government on 14 December 1997, 6 of the 12 wells built in Ayro were closed down, including well No. 6, which was believed to be