Peru’s police and military have violently suppressed recent anti-government protests, resulting in deaths that likely amount to “extrajudicial or arbitrary killings” under international law, according to a new 107-page report from the nonprofit Human Rights Watch (HRW).
The report, released on Wednesday, comes nearly five months after widespread demonstrations erupted across Peru, following the impeachment and arrest of then-President Pedro Castillo in December. Of the 49 civilians killed during clashes with security forces from December through February, HRW found that 39 died from firearms, and five more were killed by “pellets fired from shotguns.” According to César Muñoz, the Americas associate director at HRW, police, in some cases, used a type of lead pellet that contravened Peruvian law.
The report also accuses the Peruvian government of “apparent inaction” in the face of alleged abuses against protesters. Although Attorney General Patricia Benavides has opened probes into the protesters’ deaths and into President Boluarte’s response, HRW has found “serious flaws” in these criminal investigations. These alleged flaws include instances of failing to conduct autopsies before burials and a failure to seize police officers’ weapons for “ballistic analysis without delay.”
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