Peru: “Recent measures a historical opportunity to deal with past disappearances”

GENEVA (15 September 2016) – “The adoption of the law on searching for the disappeared as well as the recent announcement by the Government concerning the reopening of the Registry of Victims offer a historical opportunity to deal with the legacies of the disappearances that took place during the armed conflict,” said today the experts of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances while presenting the report* on the country visit which took place in June 2015.

At the same time, the experts noted that “while positive, these measures need a swift implementation in view of the lapse of time since most of the cases of enforced disappearance began and the advanced age of many of the witnesses, relatives and perpetrators.”

“It is virtually unbearable for the relatives of the victims to accept that, more than 30 years after the events took place, they still do not have any information about the fate or whereabouts of their loved ones,” they added.

“It is also essential to provide urgent psychosocial support for the families and demonstrate a renewed commitment to bring perpetrators to justice,” they observed, noting the few judicial proceedings that have been completed and the light sentences handed down to perpetrators. 

The members also emphasized that to achieve both truth and justice in Peru it is essential to have the proper cooperation of security forces as well as proper access to information, including military archives.

“Access to the information held in the archives of the armed forces and the national police should be facilitated, especially with regard to any information possibly available on burial sites and potential perpetrators,” they said.

“The Working Group stands ready to continue closely cooperating with the Government of Peru and to provide its technical assistance as appropriate,” the experts concluded. 

(*) Check the Working Group’s report on Peru (A/HRC/33/51/Add.3):
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session33/Pages/ListReports.aspx

ENDS

For more information on the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, log on to: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Disappearances/Pages/DisappearancesIndex.aspx

Check the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/EnforcedDisappearance.aspx

For more information and media requests, please contact Ugo Cedrangolo (+41 22 917 9286 / ucedrangolo@ohchr.org) or write to wgeid@ohchr.org

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