The Peruvian authorities likely violated human rights and used excessive force during the suppression of street protests in December, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) said on Wednesday
BUENOS AIRES (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd May, 2023) The Peruvian authorities likely violated human rights and used excessive force during the suppression of street protests in December, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) said on Wednesday.
The protests broke out nationwide in December 2022 after former President Pedro Castillo was arrested following his impeachment by the Peruvian parliament. At least 60 people died in the protests, according to local media. The demonstrators denounced the post-impeachment government of Dina Boluarte, who was appointed the new president, and called for an immediate presidential election and the dissolution of the country's parliament. The Peruvian prosecutor's office launched an investigation against Boluarte and incumbent Prime Minister Alberto Otarola into genocide, due to the deaths of citizens during the protests.
"In Auyacucho, there were serious human rights violations that need to be investigated with due diligence and with an ethnic-racial focus ... In Juliaca, the IACHR found that there have been several instances of an excessive and indiscriminate use of force by officers of the State, which allegedly caused serious human rights violations against both protest participants and bystanders," the IACHR said in the wake of a recently published report on the situation regarding human rights in Peru.
The IACHR is an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States (OAS) and derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. It aims to promote respect for human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS.
