Lima Peru.- Amnesty International (AI) presented this Wednesday before the President of Peru, Dina Boluarte, evidence that security agents have used excessive and lethal force during the repression of the demonstrations that have been demanding his resignation since December.
“We have presented the evidence collected where the security forces made excessive and disproportionate and often lethal use of force, using weapons against people who were protesting,” reported Erika Guevara, AI’s director for the Americas, after meeting with Boluarte in the Presidential Palace of Lima.
The lawyer explained that her report is based on information collected from the authorities themselves and brings together 46 documented cases of human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests and criminalization of protesters.
Vargas reported that during the conversation, Boluarte clarified several times that “on her part there has never been an order to use lethal weapons to control protests.”
He added that despite the President’s allegation of not having ordered it, there is a series of evidence of the lethal repression against the protesters.
The evidence collected by AI includes testimonies from victims and relatives in Lima, Ayacucho, Andahuaylas and Puno, as well as interviews, official reports and forensic expert reports.
Vargas acknowledged that Boluarte listened “very attentively” to the report and expressed his government’s commitment to advance in the care of the victims and their families.
The protests in Peru, which broke out after the President took office to replace the dismissed Pedro Castillo, have left a balance of 48 civilians and a police officer dead.
A balance from the Ombudsman’s Office indicates that in January 1,261 collective protests were registered, of which 86.7 percent were related to the political crisis.
On Tuesday, human rights organizations reported that they had criminally denounced Boluarte, his ministers and police chiefs for the death of six people during protests in December in the Apurímac region.
The complaint adds to another fiscal investigation that seeks to determine if security forces murdered protesters on December 15 in Ayacucho.
In addition to Boluarte’s resignation – supported by 76 percent of Peruvians, according to a recent Ipsos poll – the demonstrations are calling for the closure of Congress, the calling of general elections and a Constituent Assembly.
After the peak of mobilizations in January, the street clamor has decreased in the last week.
