In December of 2022, the former President of Peru, Pedro Castillo was impeached and arrested on charges of conspiracy and rebellion. Castillo, a rural union leader and Marxist, was strongly backed by much of Peru’s rural and Indigenous communities who, before his election, felt “disaffected and neglected” by the elitist State in Lima, Peru’s capital.
Following his arrest and the subsequent inauguration of former Vice President, Dina Boluarte, protests erupted in the State for three months.
The State responded to the unarmed protestors’ demonstrations with not only tear gas and rubber bullets but also live ammunition. As a result, between December 2022 and March 2023, at least 50 people were killed, with 20 of those deaths potentially qualifying as extrajudicial executions, and 1,400 others were seriously injured or permanently disabled. Some life-changing injuries include skull fractures by tear gas canister impact, debilitation by bullets to the ankle (of an 11-year-old,) and the loss of pregnancy by gunfire impact. These figures include peaceful protestors, passersby, journalists, and children.
On January 9th, 2023, which was marked a massacre and the deadliest day of the demonstration period, police used live ammunition to kill at least 18 protestors, including at least 3 minors. The youngest victim, Brayan Apaza, was out shopping with his mother when he was indiscriminately shot in the head. He was 15.
In their 2024 report, Who Called The Shots? Chain of Command Responsibility for Killings and Injuries in Protests in Peru, Amnesty International found evidence that could implicate President Boluarte’s criminal liability for the State’s violations of several international Human Rights Laws. Non-exhaustively, State use of live ammunition at protests and extrajudicial killings is in direct violation of the UN’s Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials and Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Although, under oath, Boluarte denied her direct contact with the heads of Law Enforcement during the 3 month period, it was later confirmed that she had met with them on multiple occasions, which would have given her ample time to address these violations. Strikingly, Boluarte also promoted the top commander of the Peruvian National Police (PNP), who continuously legalized lethal force by labelling protestors as terrorists. Moreover, although the OHCHR requires the right to peaceful assembly, the Peruvian Supreme Court illegalized protesting in May of 2023.
On April 29th, 2024, the UN’s Special Rapporteurs on rights to peaceful assembly, extrajudicial killings, and torture presented a general statement to urge its members to “adopt a treaty prohibiting the trade, manufacture, and use of tools and equipment that inflict torture and to regulate their use by law enforcement and other public authorities.” In their report, the experts cited the OHCHR’s Guidance on Less-Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement, which included Lethal in Disguise’s (LiD1) recommendations to ban the use of Crowd Control Weapons (CCWs) with metal components or multiple projectiles and tear gas canisters at protests because of their inherent imprecision.
This statement, the findings of Amnesty International, and the calls for a ceasefire from the Human Rights ombudsperson to the head of the armed forces and Minister of Defense appear to hold promise for accountability and peace in Peru. In the words of the executive director of Amnesty International Peru, Marina Navarro, “[t]hose responsible for the pain of hundreds of people who have lost loved ones or are gravely injured must face justice, no matter how high-ranking they are.”
Case study by INCLO intern Devyn Van Boven – July 2024
