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Former Peruvian President Manuel Merino his prime minister was criminally denounced along with him, Ántero Flores-Aráoz, and Minister of the Interior Gaston Rodriguez, both still in office, as well as the heads of the National Police for the crimes of Qualified homicide, abuse of authority and injuries.
The complaint “for serious human rights violations” was presented to the Attorney General of Peru, Zoraida Ávalos, after two young people died and dozens of people were injured during the protests that took place last week in Lima against the Merino government.
The document, presented by eight human rights organizations, includes the Director General of the National Police, Orlando Velasco, and to head of the Lima police region, Jorge Cayas, since the police harshly repressed the massive protests that began last Wednesday in Lima.
EXCESSIVE REPRESSION
The complaint indicates that, in addition to the repression of the protesters, the anti-riot agents also attacked members of the press with direct hits on the body with tear gas and pellets.
He adds that after the death of the university students Painted jack, 22 years old, e You are sotelo, 24, General Cayas declared that the use of pellets was an “isolated incident”.
For this reason, the organizations requested that a criminal investigation be initiated against those included in the complaint, since there are also numerous injured people and women who were sexually assaulted after being arrested.
FISCAL INVESTIGATION
The Peruvian Prosecutor’s Office already announced this Sunday that it is investigating the deaths of Pintado and Sotelo in the context of “serious violations of human rights”.
Sotelo was hit with four shots of pellets, one of them in the heart, while Painted received ten lead pellets in the skull, face, neck, arm and thorax, according to the necropsy.
An investigation for violation of human rights in Peru opens the possibility that a prosecutor denounces a “chain of command” in the repression that caused the deaths, which can reach the president himself, his ministers and the police chiefs, as well as the direct executors.
IACHR CONDEMNATION
The harsh repression launched by the police was condemned by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), which demanded “an immediate investigation of the facts and establish responsibilities.”
The agency also warned “that there is no precise information” on the total number of wounded and that the number of detainees on the day was not known either, so it joined the call of the Peruvian Ombudsman’s Office for such a list to be offered. .
After the tragic balance of the repression, and before the generalized demand of the country, Manuel Merino resigned this Sunday to the Presidency, while Congress seeks to find a constitutional solution to the crisis and find a successor to the president.
