Vigil for Rosalino Flórez, who died after being hit by 36 shotgun shells by the National Police in Cuzco.Angela Ponce
A few weeks after completing her first semester at the palace, Dina Boluarte’s government remains under scrutiny over a new report from a human rights institution looking at the way it has met protests against her since taking office. Amnesty International released another valuable document this Thursday that helps clarify the deaths of 49 civilians. It’s called deadly racism. Extrajudicial executions and unlawful use of force by the Peruvian security forces and documents events between December 7, 2022 and February 9, 2023. His fieldwork focused on the cities with the highest number of injuries and deaths: Ayacucho (Ayacucho), Juliaca (Puno) , Andahuaylas and Chincheros (Apurímac) and Lima, the capital.
After analyzing 92 pieces of audiovisual information, accessing prosecutors’ files, reviewing medical certificates, autopsies, forensic examinations and interviewing victims’ families, officials including President Boluarte, representatives of civil society organizations and journalists, Amnesty International claims to be doing so found five main findings: First, “The Peruvian National Police and Army used lethal force (bullets) and prohibited law enforcement weapons (pellets) illegally and less lethal force (tear gas) in excessive, disproportionate and sometimes disproportionate ways. “unnecessary way”. Second, “Far from isolated incidents of isolated police and military excesses, these are indicative of a deliberate and coordinated government response.”
The third finding focuses on racism: “There was a strong racial bias on the part of the Peruvian authorities, targeting populations who had a history of discrimination” because “the use of deadly force occurred exclusively in regions outside of Lime”. Fourth, “The President of the Republic and the Presidency of the Council of Ministers intentionally stigmatized the protesters as violent and radical and publicly demanded no accountability from the police and army.” Efficiency and failure to follow key steps of their investigative mandate.”
Amnesty International approved 23 autopsies, 22 of which found the cause of death to be “gun projectile”. In three cases, however, it was lead shot, i.e. several projectiles intended for hunting purposes. They point out that this was concealed by the police. “The pellets pose a great risk of inaccuracy, they penetrate the skin easily and are not designed for this type of function, so their use in such protest or demonstration scenarios should be banned,” they note. The victim exemplifying this abuse is Gabriel Omar López Amanqui from Julia, a 35-year-old cargo driver who died of 72 pellets in January. Likewise, it is written in bold that the armed forces used Galil (Ayacucho), FAL (Juliaca), and AKM (Juliaca and Ayacucho) rifles, all with lethal ammunition.
Protests in Peru during the crisis that led to the arrest of Pedro Castillo in January. Europe Press/Contact/Carlos Garcia Granthon
For these reasons, Amnesty International has addressed a petition to the Spanish government: “That it stand by its decision last February to suspend the sale of counterinsurgency equipment to Peru until those responsible for the violence that have left 49 people dead , will be tried and offered.” an account of what happened.” The motion states that this suspension should be extended to the sale of all ammunition and light weapons, “due to the high risk of these being stolen by the Peruvian armed forces or the police could be used to commit human rights violations”.
Join EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without restrictions.
subscribe to
The report also denounced that the weapons used by the police and army were not confiscated and therefore not examined, which would have served to identify the perpetrators of the deaths. They also point out that the police and military personnel were not questioned and that several relatives or wounded had not demonstrated three months after the events. “Peruvian security forces may have engaged in a cover-up by not reporting the use of ammunition during the protests and obstructing the presentation of other important information,” they conclude.
Amnesty said it had requested a meeting with senior police officials, but the institution canceled the appointment twice. Additionally, along with the Department of Defense, they were the two government agencies that denied requests for access to public information used to create this document on the excuse that it was “reserved” or “confidential information.”
The investigation also includes anonymous testimony from a police officer from the Apurímac region, which is sure to spark debate about law enforcement’s actions. “One thing that nobody tells you in training … but what we usually talk about among cops is that if there’s a violent group, they shoot a person because as long as there are no dead people, people are still angry . When they see a fallen man, they placate him…”
Regarding the criminal investigations, it is emphasized that at the end of March all criminal investigations were transferred to Lima. “According to several lawyers and human rights organizations, this happened just as the military was about to submit its testimony to local Ayacucho prosecutors. This would have been an important milestone in the investigation in Ayacucho, which has now been blocked by the decisions of the Lima prosecutor. But there is an even more serious fact: how the chain of evidence would have been broken. “Many bullets were pulled from the bodies of patients in hospitals in Andahuaylas, Ayacucho and Juliaca, but they were thrown in the trash, were lost or were not handed over to prosecutors.”
The report was presented this Thursday morning by Agnes Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, other representatives of this institution and Raúl Samillán, President of the Association of Martyrs and Victims of January 9 in Juliaca, Puno. Agnes Callamard agrees: “The use of deadly firearms against protesters shows a blatant disregard for human life.” Despite government efforts to portray them as terrorists or criminals, the people who died were protesters, bystanders and bystanders. Almost all of them came from poor, indigenous and peasant backgrounds, suggesting a racial and socioeconomic bias in the use of deadly force.”
Subscribe to the EL PAÍS America newsletter here and receive the latest news from the region