Lima, Peru: Two decades after the kidnapping and disappearance of 17 residents of the communities of Socco, Amoca, and Checcasa, the Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team (EPAF) has successfully identified the remains of five victims exhumed in the area known as Chaupiorcco in December 2004.

According to an EPAF press release, the positive identifications came after DNA analyses conducted by EPAF in collaboration with Bode Laboratories confirmed ante-mortem information gathered in 2005. The identified victims include three men and two women.

“These identifications represent a crucial step forward in our attempt to establish what happened that day,” said EPAF Executive Director Jose Pablo Baraybar. “We hope this information helps to move forward the judicial process as these families continue their search for justice.”

The massacre is believed to have occurred on January 13, 1988. Five days earlier, according to testimonials from community residents, the Peruvian military detained three people in the community of Socco. Two to three days later, the same military contingent detained 14 more people in the community of Checcasa and one in the community of Amoca, subjecting them all to torture.

EPAF is a partner of The Advocacy Project (AP). Peace Fellow Ash Kosiewicz is volunteering with the group in Lima this summer.

Read EPAF’s full press release.

Read Ash’s blog.