Peru: Referral to the UN mechanisms about the human rights violations and repression of social protest

PRESS RELEASE

Lima, Geneva, Brussels, 9^th of February 2023 – The National Federation of Peasant, Artisan, Indigenous, Native and Salaried Women of Peru (FENMUCARINAP), as a member organisation of La Via Campesina, the CETIM and the Whipalas Network, in collaboration with the Swiss Peruvian organization “Quinto Suyo” and the Peru Solidarity Collective – Belgium, submitted a complaint to various UN human rights protection mechanisms to denounce the violations and repression against the Peruvian people, in the context of the political and social upheaval that has affected the country since the institutional breakdown of December 2022.

Following the controversial ousting of president Pedro Castillo, dictated by a Congress of the Republic representing the dominant and racist elites, Peru has seen its historic social fractures resurface in a generalised socio-political crisis, marked by bloody repression and systematic human rights violations by the provisional government of Dina Boluarte. Various popular demonstrations have been, and continue to be, carried out at the national level by various segments of Peruvian civil society, with broad popular participation of peasants, indigenous peoples and working-class sectors. So far, the violence of the “forces of order” has already left more than 60 people dead (nearly all of them as a direct result of the repression) and more than 1,000 injured.

Social organisations and movements that mobilise legitimately to defend their rights are not only subject to bloody repression, threats and criminalisation, but also to systemic racism and other types of discrimination.

It is necessary to underline that the social demonstrations are focused on basic democratic demands, such as advancing the agenda to recover the rule of law and the democratic course of the country, guaranteeing the renewal of state institutions and powers, as well as convening a free and sovereign Constituent Assembly.

Several international human rights bodies, following on-site visits, have already expressed their concern and repudiation of the atrocities committed against civilians in Peru in recent weeks, such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

In the face of the massive human rights violations and the worrying political and social crisis in Peru, our organisations submitted a complaint to different UN human rights protection mechanisms.

The complaint demands, among other things, that the relevant UN mechanisms urge the Peruvian government to cease repressive actions and executions of demonstrators, to release with immediate effect all persons arbitrarily detained, to ensure that those responsible for these violations are duly identified and punished, and that affected persons have access to justice and reparation.

Our organizations and movements will follow closely the evolution of the situation in Peru and the follow-up of our request by the UN mechanisms.

Download the press release

Contacts:

Lourdes Huanca, FENMUCARINAP/La Via Campesina, fenmucarinap2006@gmail.com

La Via Campesina, press@viacampesina, +33143625656

Raffaele Morgantini, CETIM, www.cetim.ch, raffaele@cetim.ch, +41796606514

Maya Corminboeuf, Whipalas Network, maya.corminboeuf@gmail.com, +4178737097

Maria del Rosario Wuillemin, Quinto Suyo, admaira@hotmail.com, +41766156732

Rafael Salgado Olivera, Peru Solidarity Collective – Belgium, saloraca@gmail.com