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The brand new Peruvian president, Francisco Sagasti, on Monday ordered a reform in the police, appointed a new commander and dismissed 15 generals, in response to the violent repression of protesters in the short-lived previous government.
“I have made the decision to appoint General César Augusto Cervantes as the new police commander,” Sagasti announced in a message to the country on television, six days after assuming power after the short-lived government of Manuel Merino.
“These measures are intended to strengthen the Police,” added the centrist president.
Cervantes replaced General Orlando Velasco, who had been in command of the Police since August 7, although this chief has not been held responsible for the repression of the protests against Merino because he was on sick leave.
Two dead and more than a hundred injured left by the police repression of the demonstrations in Lima against Merino, who resigned five days after taking office in replacement of the popular president Martín Vizcarra, after he was dismissed by Congress.
“Defend democracy”
With the appointment of Cervantes, 15 police generals are retired, Interior Minister Rubén Vargas told RPP radio.
“We want a police force that continues to defend democracy, fundamental rights, that restores security and guarantees to us,” said Vargas.
Sagasti also arranged to create a commission, headed by Minister Vargas, to recommend actions to modernize and strengthen the Police in 60 days.
The president said that with this reform he wants to “connect the police with the citizens.”
Vargas announced on Sunday an administrative investigation, which may reach generals and other officials, after the death of two young protesters by the repression in Lima, on November 14.
“The investigations are being carried out with absolute priority and respecting due process,” the minister said Monday. “I do not want to anticipate any type of sanction,” he said.
The use of shotguns that fired lead shot and glass marbles (marbles) also left a hundred injured in the center of Lima and there were also reports of sexual abuse of women detained in police stations.
UN mission
The Prosecutor’s Office opened a preliminary criminal investigation a week ago against Merino and two of his ministers for the repression, which may also reach other officials and police.
The Prosecutor’s Office tries to determine the “line of command” in the government and the police in those days to define who to bring to justice.
A mission of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights visited Lima to obtain information on the police repression, which included “reports of misuse of less lethal weapons and of plainclothes agents,” according to the UN.
“We had the opportunity to learn more about the situation in Peru through our direct observation and frank dialogue with its protagonists,” including relatives of the two young men who died, said Jan Jarab, head of delegation and representative of UN Human Rights in America. del Sur, quoted in a statement.
Civil managers
After assuming power on November 17, Sagasti introduced several changes in the leadership of the Ministry of the Interior, on which the Police reports.
Further, The president announced this Monday the appointment of civilian “public managers” in administration tasks in the Police, amid suspicions of corruption in the acquisition of biosecurity implements in the framework of the coronavirus pandemic, according to local media.
More than 33,700 Peruvian police officers have contracted the coronavirus, of which more than 500 have died, according to official figures. The Andean country of 33 million registers 950,000 covid-19 infections and more than 35,000 deaths.
The president said that this reform seeks to give “transparency and integrity” to the Police, alluding to the alleged acts of corruption during the pandemic.
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