Peru: Defensoría del Pueblo seeks meeting with Defense Minister in response to State of Emergency

Peru: Defensoría del Pueblo seeks meeting with Defense Minister in response to State of Emergency

The Defensoría del Pueblo (Ombudsman), Eliana Revollar, seeks to address human rights concerns in the context of the State of Emergency’s militarization of the government response to protests.

Peru’s Defensoría del Pueblo (Ombudsman) Eliana Revollar

Peru’s Defensoría del Pueblo (Ombudsman) Eliana Revollar has requested a meeting with Minister of Defense Jorge Chávez to express her concerns about the increasing military response to ongoing protests and demonstrations in the country. This is also in response to yesterday’s Supreme Decree establishing a State of Emergency in the Regions of Madre de Dios, Cusco, Puno, Apurímac, Arequipa, Moquegua, and Tacna.

Peru’s Defensoría, modeled after the Ombudsman’s Office first established in Sweeden, was created by the Political Constitution of 1993 as an autonomous body to defend fundamental rights, supervise compliance with the duties of the state administration, as well as the efficient provision of public services throughout the country.

In today’s statement, the Defensoría said the purpose of meeting with the Minister of Defense is to “contribute to any action that compromises the intervention of the Armed Forces (FF.AA.) in support of the Peruvian National Police (PNP) for the management of social conflicts contemplating the full validity of human rights within the framework of constitutionality and conventionality.”

According to the Supreme Decree, the State of Emergency will last for sixty calendar days in the country’s seven affected regions. During this period, the PNP "maintains control of internal order, with the support of the Armed Forces" and will have as its objective the "protection of National Critical Assets."

The Supreme Decree also provides that in Puno, the Joint Command of the Armed Forces will "assume the Unified Command of the Armed Forces and the National Police". This measure is similar to the 1981 State of Emergency declared by President Fernando Belaúnde Terry which led to military law superseding civilian law.

Peruvian Army Unit

The Defensoría’s concern about the militarization of the government’s response to social conflicts in the country is to protect human rights and avoid reigniting the bloody armed conflicts that have affected Peru for the past 40 years.

The Internal Conflict in Peru (Conflicto interno en el Perú) was a bitterly fought conflict from 1980 to 2003 between the government and two communist guerilla groups; the Shining Path (Sindero Luminoso) and Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru).  Estimates of the death toll from this conflict range from 48,000 to 70,000, mostly civilian indigenous people, making it the bloodiest war in Peru since European colonization. Echoes of the conflict continue with skirmishes between the Peruvian Army and guerrilla remnants in the Valle de los Ríos Apurímac, Ene y Mantaro (VRAEM) region.

Even today, many Peruvians in the country’s urban centers view social conflicts in rural areas as being influenced by communist, or even terrorist, agendas; while residents in these rural areas view the FF.AA. as an oppressive occupying force.


Indigenous residents watch the advance of a battalion through the highlands of Puno, Peru, Jan. 24, 2023 (photo: @NangaraGozon)

Tags: #Peru #Protests #DefensoríaDelPueblo #FFAA #StateOfEmergency #HumanRights


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