Peru
Amnesty: Protesters victims of “deadly racism”
Opponents of the government protest and turn themselves in to the police. photo
© Martin Mejia/AP/dpa
Many demonstrators are killed in the suppression of the protests in Peru. The human rights organization now emphasizes: “Almost all of them came from poor, indigenous and rural backgrounds.”
Amnesty International has accused security forces in Peru of using racist violence to quell protests that have killed dozens. “Despite the government’s efforts to portray them as terrorists or criminals, those killed were demonstrators, observers and bystanders,” Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of the human rights organization, said on Thursday. “Almost all came from poor, indigenous and peasant backgrounds, suggesting a racial and socioeconomic bias in the use of deadly force.”
The occasion was the publication of an Amnesty report entitled “Deadly Racism: Extrajudicial Executions and Unlawful Use of Force by the Peruvian Security Forces”. It said the South American country’s prosecutors should investigate at the highest level those who ordered or condoned the unlawful violence by the security forces that resulted in 49 deaths between December and February.
Peru’s then President Pedro Castillo dissolved Congress in December to forestall a no-confidence vote. Parliament then removed him from office, the left-wing politician was arrested on charges of an attempted coup and is still in custody. Numerous protests followed, with demonstrators demanding Castillo’s release and the resignation of interim president Dina Boluarte. According to the authorities, more than 60 people died.