Peru: Justice for Indigenous Protestors Killed by Police

In the two months following the inauguration of Dina Boluarte as president of Peru on Dec. 7, 2022, as the nation was reeling from the controversial departure of President Pedro Castillo, 48 people were killed by Peruvian security forces. According to investigations by Amnesty International, 80 percent of the killings took place in Indigenous areas of the country, even though these regions represent only 13 percent of Peru’s population and protests took place on a national level.

Maryknoll Sister Pat Ryan, a resident of Peru for 40 years and founder of the human rights group DHUMA, said of one incident of police violence in the city of Juliaca, where 17 people were shot and killed, including protesters, teenagers, and a doctor attending the wounded: “What happened in the city of Juliaca can only be described as one of the worst massacres that have occurred in our country in recent years.”

In the two years since then, a group of eight human rights organizations, including DHUMA, have worked together to seek justice for the victims. They recently filed a legal action on behalf of the families of the deceased to demand that the laws that facilitated the police’s disproportionate use of force (commonly known as the “easy trigger law”), and prevented judges from issuing detention measures against police officers who committed abuses, be repealed.

The eight human rights organizations are the National Coordinator of Human Rights, Legal Defense Institute (IDL), Episcopal Commission for Social Action (CEAS), Training and Intervention Group for Sustainable Development (GRUFIDES), Ecumenical Foundation for Development and Peace (Fedepaz), Association for Life and Human Dignity (Aporvidha), Human Rights and Environment (DHUMA), and Human Rights Association Without Borders (DHSF).

On Feb. 18, Sister Ryan said “we have achieved a half-victory that is explained in our statement.”

In their statement that day, the eight human rights groups explained that the Peruvian Constitutional Court ruled in their favor, agreeing with the plaintiffs that Law 31012, which eliminated the obligation of the National Police to act proportionally in the use of force and prohibited judges from issuing preliminary detention or preventive imprisonment against police officers investigated for crimes and abuse of authority, is unconstitutional. However, instead of repealing the law, the Constitutional Court issued an interpretative ruling, inviting legal uncertainty.

Regarding the prohibition of issuing preliminary detention or preventive detention, the Constitutional Court did not reach the minimum of five votes required to issue a resolution. This lack of consensus prevents a clear position from being adopted on this aspect of Law 31012, leaving in force a provision that limits the capacity of the judiciary to investigate and punish possible abuses, such as the excessive use of force, committed by members of the national police.

This ruling is crucial in the context of the criminalization of social protest. The police killings after the dismissal of former president in Juliaca and more than 400 miles away in Andahuaylas showed the disproportionate use of force with firearms against unarmed protesters, constituting a serious violation of human rights.

The human rights group said they remain steadfast in their commitment to the defense of fundamental rights of the victims and their families, and they will continue to pursue legal actions to guarantee protection, justice and reparation on their behalf.

Faith in action

Read and share the letter from 2023 signed by more than 400 representatives of Christian organizations expressing their solidarity with the Indigenous communities defending human rights and democracy in Peru. https://mogc.info/PeruSolidarityLetter