What happens in Peru: Amnesty denounces police violence
Start Magazine conversation with the director of Amnesty International in Peru Marina Navarro
Peru is experiencing days of intense institutional and political crisis. The situation is well summarized by one fact: the country has changed three presidents in the course of just one week.
The institutional crisis
On Monday, November 9, Martín Vizcarra was dismissed by Parliament from the position of President of the Republic for " moral incapacity ", because he was involved in a corruption investigation. The road to removal began on September 11, 2020 , when Parliament initiated an impeachment procedure against Vizcarra, accused of trying to obstruct the investigation that involved him. Vizcara, according to the accusations, would have falsified a tender for the award of building contracts in exchange for a bribe worth 300 thousand euros.
To replace Vizcara was called Manuel Merino , who was sworn in on 12 November. The Peruvian population, however, did not like this induced instability and took to the streets. The demonstrations involved thousands of people.
Two boys died during the demonstrations
"I think people know what their rights are, taking to the streets was their right and they exercised it" – says the director of Amnesty International in Peru Marina Navarro – "The demonstrations were impressive and throughout the country, in various cities, not just in Lima ”.
The demonstrations, which lasted all weekend, were marked by violence between demonstrators and police and were marred by the death of two young boys of 22 and 24 , who remained on the ground after clashes with the police. “The murder of the two boys seems intentional, because from the analysis of their corpses it emerged that they have received many gunshots” – added Marina Navarro – “ In hospitals there are many wounded , many people hospitalized with serious injuries. We need to understand what happened because they are not isolated cases, there are many injured people and on different days. Not just isolated situations , absolutely. According to data from the health system there are several hundred people in hospital ”.
Amnesty International: police violence
Amnesty International complained that the police resorted to unnecessary use of force. "The interventions were disproportionate , there were arbitrary arrests on which we produced reports and mistreatment inside the police buildings where the arrested protesters were taken" – added Marina Navarro – "There are reports of sexual abuse and violence sexual intercourse inside police stations. All this must be investigated and investigated ”.
New cases of disappeared
According to Amnesty International's claims, the arbitrary arrests and systematic violations of human rights are joined by numerous cases of missing persons . “Unfortunately, there have been several cases of missing persons” – continues the director Navarro – “We do not yet have certain numbers but we know that there are several people who participated in the event and who have not returned home . Family members reported his disappearance ".
The violence against the press
The street violence also spilled over to journalists. "Following the demonstrations there were numerous journalists who work for local and national media" – says Marina Navarro – "Many of them were physically attacked, about 30 people were injured".
The appointment of Sagasti and the solution of the crisis
The momentary solution of the institutional impasse has passed by the resignation of Manuel Merino and the appointment of Francisco Sagasti , 76, as interim president. Sagasti was sworn to complete the legislature on July 28, 2021, after the elections scheduled for April 11, 2021. In his inauguration speech, Sagasti recalled the death of the two young people during the weekend demonstrations .
"We ask that human rights be placed at the center of the country's political and social agenda" – concludes the director of Amnesty International Peru – "So that the violence we saw last weekend does not repeat itself. Secondly, we ask for justice for the cases of violence and for the two boys killed in the square ”.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/che-cosa-succede-in-peru-amnesty-denuncia-le-violenze-della-polizia/ on Thu, 19 Nov 2020 08:16:06 +0000.