The administration of Dina Boluarte replied this Saturday to the report of International Amnesty (AI), which denounced the “generalized attacks” on the population by law enforcement during the protests the day before.
Amnesty International confirms the use of lethal and less lethal weapons in protests in Peru and condemns “excessive and disproportionate use”
The executive director of the organization, Erika Guevara, spoke with Infobae and revealed that the organization has collected a series of tests that show the illegitimate use of weapons by the authorities. 80% of the victims are concentrated in regions with Andean and peasant populations in the highlands of the country
The organization also warned that the country’s “serious human rights crisis” has been fueled by racism and criminalization against indigenous and peasant communities.
“The Peruvian government deeply regrets the loss of human lives that occurred in the context of the protests and acts of vandalism that occurred after December 7, 2022; however, he is categorical in stating that in Peru there is no policy of massive and systematic rape of human rights or what they have called a systemic racism in the actions of the different authorities”, contradicted the Executive through a pronouncement published by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.
The portfolio, chaired by Jose Tellonoted that he “appreciates the open dialogue” held between the president and AI representatives, in which “the State’s commitment to the promotion and protection of fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right to peaceful protest, was ratified.”
The AI mission sent to Peru traveled to Ayacucho, Apurimac and Cusco between January 29 and February 11, and met with senior officials, including Boluarte, and multiple representatives of the security forces, prosecutors, journalists, and civil society organizations, the wounded, and relatives of the fatalities of the protests, numbering 70.
In presenting their findings, the AI Director for the Americas, Erika Guevarainsisted that the “excessive and disproportionate use of force”, which included “illegitimate use of lethal weapons and less lethal weapons indiscriminately”, has left a “fatal and tragic” balance, which “deepens the systemic racism that exists in the authorities of the State”.
“The Peruvian authorities have allowed, for more than two months, the excessive and lethal use of force to be the Government’s only response to the social outcry of thousands of communities that today demand dignity and a political system that guarantees their human rights” , he asserted.
The organization highlighted that the protests broke out in southern regions, the “most marginalized in the country”, whose population, mostly indigenous, has been “historically subjected to discrimination and inequality.”
He highlighted, in this sense, that while the departments with the largest indigenous population represent 13% of the Peruvian population, they concentrate 80% of the total deaths registered since the beginning of the crisis, last December.
Amnesty International denounces widespread attacks on the population in protests against the government
The director of the institution for the Americas, Erika Guevara, pointed out the excessive and disproportionate use of force
These facts, warned Guevara, “could constitute extrajudicial killingswhich is a crime under international law, which has responsibilities, not only for the one who pulled the trigger, but also for the one who gave the order.”
