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Peru - The Search for Truth and Justice

In September 2003, Maria Manrique, from Rights Action, reported on efforts to build a Truth Commission in Peru for the human rights society at Georgetown University (which is co-managed by AP). The following article was written by AP.

In spite of opposition from the political right and left in Peru, Peru's Truth and Reconciliation Commission has performed a vital service by forcing Peruvians to face up to ingrained violence against indigenous people. The Commission has also given civil society a valuable tool for following up with the aftermath of the 20-year insurgency.

Peru's Truth and Reconciliation Commission can play an important role in helping Peruvian civil society address the legacy of twenty years of internal armed conflict that claimed the lives of 69,280 Peruvians, according to Maria del Carmen Cabrel Navarro, a prominent defense lawyer who works with political detainees in Peru.

In an address to the Georgetown Human Rights Forum on September 29, 2003, Ms. Cabrel said that human rights groups are keen to investigate mass graves, explain disappearances, and support orphans. She also expressed concern that Peru's draconian emergency anti-terrorist laws have not been repealed by the democratic government of President Toledo. 2,000 political prisoners remain in jail, she said. The laws also allow for terrorist suspects to be prosecuted in special courts which are inconsistent with international human rights standards.

Maria Manrique of Rights Action (left) with Maria Del Carmen Cabrel Navarro from Peru.

Ms Cabrel was accompanied by Maria Manrique from Rights Action, which arranged for Ms Cabrel's speaking tour in North America. Rights Action supports several community human rights campaigns in Central and South America.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established in July 2001 and issued its report on August 28 of this year. It covered the years of 1980 to 2,000 and included the terms of three Peruvian presidents - Belaunde, Garcia and Fujimori.

Peruvians were shocked by the Commission's estimate of the number that died, which was almost three times higher than the estimate of the Peruvian Human Rights Ombudsman (24,000). Equally shocking, said Ms. Cabrel, was the fact that 85% of the victims were rural Quechua Indians, most of them from Ayacucho province. This indicated the extent to which Peru's poor indigenous population were targeted by the violence. 7% of those who died were from the armed forces.

As for responsibility, said Ms Cabrel, 54% of the deaths were attributed to the Shining Path rebels and 34% to the armed forces, although the army is thought to have been responsible for 61% of the disappearances.

The Commission went to extraordinary lengths to get at the truth. It hired 350 workers and set up 10 regional offices. It also held public audiences. Many witnesses needed counseling before they could recount their ordeal publicly.

The question is whether a statement of the facts is sufficient. As has happened elsewhere with truth commissions in El Salvador, Chile, and Guatemala, Peru's Commission ended up by leaving many unsatisfied.

Many Peruvians felt it did not go far enough. They felt it would be compromised by the fact that its 12 members included a retired military officer and Senator. They were concerned by the fact that the Commission does not have powers to prosecute but only forward cases to the State prosecutors. The Commission named persons implicated in crimes, and has reportedly sent on some files for investigation. But Ms Cabrel said the names have not been disclosed. It is also far from clear whether the cases will be followed up.

On the other side, Peruvian business interests felt that the Commission went too far in blaming the military, and placed advertisements saying that the Commission had "liberated" terrorists. They also offered to pay for the defense of any military officials who faced prosecution.

The Commission also faces criticism from the political party of the former president Alan Garcia, who is making plans to stand for the presidency again. Garcia is reportedly concerned that the Commission's report will re-open a notorious mass killing of some 300 Peruvians that occurred in Lima in 1986, during his former presidency. It also accuses his administration of tacitly allowing the growth of paramilitaries.

Another major limitation comes from the fact that there is no funding to compensate victims, which many feel would have greatly boosted the Commission's credibility. Ms Cabrel said that the government has provided some funding for returning refugees and displaced, with special emphasis on women. But there is no other obvious source of compensation.

In spite of these limitations, human rights activists like Carmen Cabrel see the Commission as an unprecedented and deeply cathartic experience for a society that has never squarely faced up to ingrained violence and injustice, particularly as it affects indigenous people and the poor. "My society is very violent," she said. "There is violence in the fact that children are forced to work and that so many lack proper nourishment."

Most important, said Ms Cabrel, the Commission provides civil society with an opportunity to follow up on many of the abuses that remain unresolved from Peru's dirty war.

Chief among them for Ms Cabrel, is the fact that the anti-terrorism legislation remains in force, even though the emergency is past and President Fujimori himself is in exile in Japan. 2,000 political detainees remain behind bars, and some have been detained for over 10 years.

The original legislation created special courts, and allowed for suspects to be tried on military bases before hooded judges. Defense lawyers were given two hours to prepare for a case (which could include 500 separate files), and often had to wear hoods themselves while defending clients. The law was amended this summer, but Ms Cabrel said that it still permits special courts and does not lay out minimum sentences or allow for parole.

Political prisoners face an additional problem in securing a fair trial, because the main human rights coordinating group in Peru refuses to take on cases associated with the insurgency. Many have been transferred from prison to prison and cannot afford private lawyers.

Ms Cabrel is one of the few lawyers prepared to take up their defense. She herself was twice detained in 1989. She now works with the Association for Legal Aid and Social Action.

For more information on Peru's insurgency and the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission contact Rights Action or Marie Manrique in Guatemala.

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