August 21, 2009, Ayacucho, Peru: The Second Office of the High Prosecutor for Human Rights for the Province of Ayacucho recently returned 92 sets of human remains from victims of the Putis massacre to their family members and community. The return took place in the Auditorium of the Public Ministry in Ayacucho.

The Peruvian Forensic Anthropolgy Team (EPAF), an Advocacy Project partner, exhumed the mass graves at Putis in May 2008 — the first step in identifying the remains of massacre victims. The Putis massacre occurred after hundreds of villagers were displaced from their homes in late 1984 and rounded up by soldiers. A group of 123 villagers were taken to Putis and shot on December 13, 1984.

This week, Dr. Javier González, President of the Council of Public Prosecutors, indicated that the Public Ministry is doing all they can under the law to identify the perpetrators of this terrible and degrading crime against humanity. Further, he stated that the Public Ministry does not seek revenge through its investigtion but rather acts “to ensure that what happened in Putis never happens again.”

The Executive Director of EPAF, José Pablo Baraybar, made a brief presentation in order to explain EPAF’s work at Putis and share the principal conclusions that resulted from the forensic investigation. He also thanked the population of Putis for their support during the exhumation process and expressed his satisfaction at finally being able to return the remains of the victims to their family members. Finally, he thanked the authorities of the Public Ministry for placing their confidence in EPAF and reiterated his support for any attempt to find out the truth about what happened in Putis and provide a full response to the demands of the families.

Twenty-eight of the 92 victims recovered were identified thanks to support EPAF received from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor of the US State Department.

A woman from Ayacucho sits with the remains of Putis massacre victims