AI on Peru 1994

["Chris, London" <100423.2040@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

/* Written 11:38 pm  Feb 11, 1994 by igc:hnaylor in gn:ai.general */
/* ---------- "PERU: Military tribunal" ---------- */
Amnesty International
International Secretariat
1 Easton Street
London WC1X 8DJ
United Kingdom

11 February 1994

            PERU: LA CANTUTA CASE TO BE HEARD BY MILITARY TRIBUNAL

Amnesty International is profoundly dismayed by a resolution passed by Peru's
Congress to hear in a military tribunal the case against the military officers
implicated in the alleged extrajudicial execution, in July 1992, of one
professor and nine students from La Cantuta University.

     The organization fears that the resolution will inevitably mean that the
full truth behind the abductions and killings in July 1992 will never be made
public, and that the military and civilian officials responsible for giving
and carrying out the orders to abduct and kill the victims, and subsequently
conceal the crime, will not be brought to justice.

     Amnesty International also fears that Congress' resolution will only
serve to consolidate a feeling of almost total impunity enjoyed by the
security forces in Peru. The number of cases of "disappearances" and
extrajudicial executions documented by Amnesty International since early 1983
amounts to at least 5000, but in only two cases have the military responsible
been brought prosecuted and convicted.

     Amnesty International believes that military tribunals in Peru have
neither the competence, impartiality, nor independence to investigate and
bring to justice members of the security forces accused of human rights
violations. Therefore Amnesty International shares the view of the United
Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions,
Mr Bacre Ndiaye, who in his recent report on human rights violations in Peru
concluded that "there is a clear institutionalization of impunity [in the
country]." He called on the Government of Peru to ensure that cases of
extrajudicial execution, including that of La Cantuta, be clearly and
explicitly excluded from military tribunals. Last month Amnesty International
recommended to the authorities that all those implicated in the La Cantuta
case be brought to justice before a civilian court.  Despite these appeals,
the authorities in Peru have persisted in having gross military abuses
investigated and judged by the military.

     Amnesty International condemns the grave human rights abuses by armed
opposition groups in Peru.  These include the execution of people held by
these groups; deliberate and arbitrary killings of civilians, and killings of
members of the security forces who are hors de combat, or who have been
incapacitated, have surrendered or been taken prisoner by these groups.
Nevertheless, such abuses can never justify violations by the authorities of
fundamental human rights such as those enshrined in the International Covenant
of Civil and Political rights to which Peru is party.

/* Written 11:30 pm  Feb 26, 1994 by igc:hnaylor in gn:ai.general */
/* ---------- "PERU: La Cantuta case - tribunal" ---------- */
Amnesty International
International Secretariat
1 Easton Street
London WC1X 8DJ
United Kingdom

25 February 1994

     PERU: OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL IMPLICATED IN LA CANTUTA
CASE
                 NOT YET INVESTIGATED BY INDEPENDENT TRIBUNAL

Amnesty International is profoundly dismayed that the case against the
military officers and a government official implicated in the La Cantuta
killings and the subsequent cover-up has not been investigated by an
independent judicial authority.  According to allegations made by dissident
military officers, at least 20 members of the military plus one government
official were implicated in the killings, but Amnesty International has
learned instead that only nine officers were brought to trial before a secret
military court. They received prison sentences ranging between one and 20
years.

     According to allegations made by dissident military officers in April and
May 1993, a "special detachment" within the Servicio de Inteligencia del
Ejrcito, SIE, (Peruvian Army Intelligence Service), operating under the orders
of a senior government official and highranking members of the armed forces,
was responsible for the massacre of nine students and a lecturer from La
Cantuta University in July 1992.  The alleged existence of such a "special
detachment" within the SIE has not been investigated by an independent
judicial authority.

     In addition, the dissident officers accused the "special detachment" of
being implicated in two further cases of human rights violations: the massacre
of some 15 men, women and children in the Barrios Altos neighborhood of Lima
in November 1991; and the extrajudicial execution of at least 26 students from
the Universidad del Centro (University of Central Peru), in the city of
Huancayo, during 1992 and 1993.  According to recent reports, members of this
"special detachment" were also responsible for the "disappearance" of nine
peasants from three villages in Santa province in May 1992, and for the
extrajudicial execution of the journalist Pedro Herminio Yauri in June 1992.
None of these allegations have been adequately investigated by the government
nor have the perpetrators been brought to justice.

     Amnesty International has documented at least 5000 cases of
"disappearance" and extrajudicial execution since early 1983.  The
organization once again calls on the Peruvian authorities to ensure that all
officials, members of the security forces and those assisting them who have
been implicated in ordering, planning or conducting these abductions and
killings be fully investigated by an independent judicial authority.  The
organization believes that military tribunals in Peru have neither the
competence, impartiality, nor independence necessary to investigate and bring
to justice members of the security forces accused of human rights violations.
An effective response to Amnesty International's call by the Peruvian
Government would send a message to Peruvians and the international community
that Peru is complying with the requirements enshrined in international human
rights standards to which it is party.

     Amnesty International reiterates its unequivocal condemnation of grave
human rights abuses by armed opposition groups in Peru.  These include the
execution of people held by such groups; deliberate and arbitrary killings of
civilians, and killings of members of the security forces who are hors de
combat, or who have been incapacitated, have surrendered or been taken
prisoner by these groups.  Nevertheless, such abuses can never justify
violations by the authorities of fundamental human rights.


/* Written 12:08 am  Nov  9, 1994 by igc:hnaylor in gn:ai.general */
/* ---------- "PERU: Appalling torture record" ---------- */
Amnesty International USA
322 Eighth Avenue
New York, NY 10001

EMBARGOED FOR WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1994

PERU: UN COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE EXAMINES PERU'S APPALLING TORTURE
RECORD

UNITED NATIONS, GENEVA -- Hundreds of people held in Peru have been tortured
and ill-treated, more than five years after the government promised to improve
its record on torture, according to Amnesty International today.

      The human rights organization has submitted a report to the United
Nations (UN) Committee against Torture, which is today examining Peru's
initial report on the measures taken by the authorities to bring an end to the
practice of torture and ill-treatment. Peru ratified the UN Convention against
Torture in 1988.

      "The government admits that it's agents still carry out torture, and yet
we do not know of one single case in which a member of the security forces has
been brought to justice before a civilian court and convicted for this",
Amnesty International said.

      The human rights organization is challenging the claim by the Peruvian
Government that effective legislative and administrative safeguards exist to
prevent torture and punish torturers.

      According to Amnesty International the Peruvian authorities have not
promptly and impartially investigated the hundreds of complaints lodged since
1992 in which prisoners accused of terrorism-related offences claim they were
tortured and ill-treated.

      In the report, Amnesty International points out that detainees accused
of crimes under Peru's anti-terrorism laws almost invariably claim they were
tortured to make them sign confessions, which are then used as evidence
against them. The detention, interrogation, and trial procedures enshrined in
these laws effectively encourages the use of torture and ill-treatment.

      For example, the law explicitly prohibits members of the security forces
involved in detaining and interrogating the suspect, of being called upon as
witnesses during the suspect's trial. The possibility of cross-examining those
accused of torturing or ill-treating the suspect is thereby precluded, and an
important safeguard designed to ensure a fair trial is removed.

      "Only when the Peruvian authorities reform the anti-terrorism laws, make
the investigation of torture allegations speedy and effective, and bring the
perpetrators to justice, can the Government's avowed aim 'to eliminate
torture' be taken seriously," Amnesty International said.

       The human rights organization reiterates its unequivocal condemnation
of grave human rights abuses by armed opposition groups in Peru. These include
the torture and execution of people held by such groups; deliberate and
arbitrary killings of civilians, and killings of members of the security
forces who are hors de combat, or who have been incapacitated, have
surrendered or been taken prisoner by these groups. Nevertheless, such abuses
can never justify violations by the authorities of fundamental human rights.


END AI on Peru 1994

This completes the three parts containing the 10 entries
found on Peru on the Amnesty Interantional AI.GENERAL achives
from June 1991 to the present.

Chris B
London.




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