Peru: State Dept- Section 4 - NGO investigations

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

[CB comments: this brief section is particularly interesting for
the question of how objective the international human rights agencies are
able to be.  The assertion that they have "legitimate" fears of
physical violence from the PCP is especially interesting in view
of the PCP line on agents of international imperialism and the evidence
in this report itself of physical threats from right wing elements.]


 Section 4   Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights

 The Government allowed numerous nongovernmental organizations (NGO's)
dedicated to monitoring and advancing human rights to operate freely,
although government officials continued to criticize them.  The military
often restricted the ability of local and international human rights
workers to investigate human rights abuses; the Government usually
ignored human rights groups' requests for information and prohibited
many human rights monitors--except the ICRC--from visiting some prisons.
Verbal attacks by the Government against both domestic and international
human rights monitors reflected its continuing suspicion of
international NGO's in particular for bringing human rights abuses to
public attention.  Legitimate fears of physical attack by Sendero
severely limited the ability of human rights monitors to carry out their
work.
 Most Peruvian human rights NGO's are independent and generally objective
in their views.  Several private human rights groups joined in 1985 to
form an umbrella organization known as the National Coordinating
Committee for Human Rights, or Coordinadora.  The Coordinadora maintains
a policy of not mixing politics with human rights (its individual
members may do so, but not in the Coordinadora's name), and its members
are recognized as thorough and impartial observers.  The Coordinadora
had no dialog with the Government during the past year except on the
issue of Peruvians detained in Ecuador during the 1995 border war.  The
dialog between the Coordinadora and the Government stalled in 1994 as a
result of Congress's action in the La Cantuta case.
 Human rights groups repeatedly denounced Sendero Luminoso as the
greatest violator of human rights in Peru, while simultaneously
documenting the many violations by the security forces.  Documentary
evidence indicates that Coordinadora members have been balanced in their
denunciations of abuses by both sides.  Nevertheless President Fujimori
and other government officials continued to accuse human rights groups
of defending terrorism and criticizing only government abuses.  Amnesty
International added to the debate when it referred in its 1994 report on
Peru (released in mid-1995) to Peruvian terrorists as "political
prisoners."  President Fujimori denounced Amnesty International for this
on July 10.
 On July 10, the offices of the Human Rights Commission (COMISEDH), a
member of the Coordinadora, were broken into, and files relating to
those believed to be falsely accused of terrorism and to human rights
abuses committed by security forces were rifled.  Attorney Tito Guido
Gallegos Gallegos of Juli, in Puno department, received a letter in July
>from a group calling itself the "Patriotic Military Front," which
threatened to kill him if he did not stop opposing the amnesty of
military officers.  A human rights attorney involved in the Barrios
Altos case received an anonymous telephonic death threat in July related
to her involvement in that case.
 On November 16 a funeral wreath was delivered to the offices of the pro-
human rights association APRODEH.  Attached to the wreath was a list of
10 individuals, including human rights activists, members of Congress,
and relatives of La Cantuta massacre victims.  Their names were listed
under the words "in memorium," and after the names was written "in
remembrance by the Colina community."  Shortly afterwards, the Defense
 Minister announced the retirement of military personnel convicted in the
La Cantuta massacre who had received amnesty in June.




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