Peru recalls it's painful past

On Aug. 14, 1985, Peruvian troops entered the highland city of Accomarca at the height of an internal conflict against communist insurgent groups. By the end of the day they has slaughtered almost 70 residents who they said were ‘suspected insurgents.’

Two women, Teofila Ochoa and Cirila Pulido, who were both 12 at the time survived by hiding from soldier. Almost all of their family members were slain.

The pair filed a lawsuit in US court recently seeking damages from Telmo Ricardo Hurtado and Juan Rivera Rondon, who led Peruvian army units during the massacre. The suit charges the men with war crimes, torture, crimes against humanity and illegal killings. The men are currently incarcerated in the US on immigration charges.

The case is the latest chapter in the long painful search for understanding and justice following the two-decade long conflict that, according to the final report of the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, claimed almost 70,000 lives.

More than half of the killings were perpetrated by the terrorist group Sendero Luminoso (or Shining Path) and a handful of smaller groups that emulated them. Last Monday marked the 15th anniversary of the incident known simply as "Tarata." On July 16, 1992 a car bomb exploded in the middle of the Miraflores section of Lima - on the street named Tarata - killing 25 people and injuring hundreds more. It was the single most bloody day in the most bloody of conflicts.

A month later the leader of Sendero Luminoso, Abimael Guzmán, was captured leading to the winding down of the violence. (Although he remains adamant in his desire to continue to wage the revolution.)

Even today it is a very sensitive issue in Peru. The current president, Alan Garcia, served his first term as the conflict gathered intensity - between 1985 and 1990. At the time he stepped down he was besieged by accusations of sanctioning human rights abuses to quell the insurgency, including the San Lurigancho Prison massacre and the formation of a paramilitary group known as Rodrigo Franco Command, which purportedly carried out a number of political murders.

Many of the atrocities were continued under the administration of the next president Alberto Fujimori but efforts to bring him to justice have been somewhat stymied as well.


Find out more about Peru, South America and my varied interests over on Klephblog.

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