Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Peru)
Encyclopedia
The Peru
vian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) (in Spanish: Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación (CVR)) (June 2001 - 28 August 2003) was established in 2001 after the fall of president Alberto Fujimori
, to examine abuses committed during the 1980s and 1990s, when Peru was plagued by the worst political violence in the history of the republic. This was during the 1980-85 government of President Fernando Belaunde, Alan García's 1985-90 term, and Fujimori's 1990-2000 administration. Its work was formally concluded on August 28, 2003, when it presented its final report to President Alejandro Toledo
. The Commission appointed as members many sectors of civil society, including scholars, journalists, sociologists, priests and artists.
The Commission focused on the massacres, "forced disappearance
s", human rights violations, terrorist attacks, and violence against women, during the internal conflict in Peru
, abuses that were committed by both the rebel groups Shining Path
(Sendero Luminoso) and Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement
(MRTA), as well as the military of Peru
. Its work encompassed holding public meetings, collecting testimonies, and making forensic investigations. It also made recommendations for reparations and institutional reforms. Its estimate of the total number of deaths caused by the rebels and government during the period was 69,280.
In the ceremony marking the end of the Commission's work, its chairman, Salomón Lerner, then president of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú said:
In its final report, the CVR identified the Shining Path as the major perpetrator of human rights violations (including torture, kidnapping, assassinations), with the Armed Forces in second place. They also noted violations by MRTA.
The CVR criticized the failures of the Catholic Church to take a stand against the abuses, especially of then Archbishop of Ayacucho Juan Luis Cipriani. A member of the Opus Dei
, a conservative Catholic group, he was notable in Peru for having said, "La Coordinadora de Derechos Humanos es una cojudez" (The Human Rights Coordinator is bollocks). While Cipriani was Archbishop, he was criticized for refusing to get involved in any cases of human rights violations. His supporters in Lima and Ayacucho deny these accusations.
Some politicians, military commanders, and members of the Congress believed to have ties to Opus Dei opposed the conclusions and work of the Commission. They accused the commission of an alleged leftist bias, including suggesting that Commissioners were "pro-Senderistas". They criticized the methods used to account for the deaths committed during the violence. Supporters of the Commission's work accused critics of supposedly defending impunity
for those accused and of wanting to bury the past.
The CVR set up a photographic archive. This was the basis of materials for the exhibit Yuyanapaq (Quechua, meaning "To remember"), which displayed photographs documenting the twenty years of violence. The exposition included images of terrorist attacks, terrorist propaganda, torture victims, remains and similar documentation of the victims. This exhibition is housed in the Museum of the Nation
in Lima, where it is open to the public.
As observer:
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
vian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) (in Spanish: Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación (CVR)) (June 2001 - 28 August 2003) was established in 2001 after the fall of president Alberto Fujimori
Alberto Fujimori
Alberto Fujimori Fujimori served as President of Peru from 28 July 1990 to 17 November 2000. A controversial figure, Fujimori has been credited with the creation of Fujimorism, uprooting terrorism in Peru and restoring its macroeconomic stability, though his methods have drawn charges of...
, to examine abuses committed during the 1980s and 1990s, when Peru was plagued by the worst political violence in the history of the republic. This was during the 1980-85 government of President Fernando Belaunde, Alan García's 1985-90 term, and Fujimori's 1990-2000 administration. Its work was formally concluded on August 28, 2003, when it presented its final report to President Alejandro Toledo
Alejandro Toledo
Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique is a politician who was President of Peru from 2001 to 2006. He was elected in April 2001, defeating former President Alan García...
. The Commission appointed as members many sectors of civil society, including scholars, journalists, sociologists, priests and artists.
The Commission focused on the massacres, "forced disappearance
Disappearance
Disappearance may refer to:* Forced disappearance, when an organization forces a person to vanish from public view* Unexplained disappearances, the disappearance of objects, animals or people without apparent reason or cause...
s", human rights violations, terrorist attacks, and violence against women, during the internal conflict in Peru
Internal conflict in Peru
It has been estimated that nearly 70,000 people died in the internal conflict in Peru that started in 1980 and, although still ongoing, had greatly wound down by 2000. The principal actors in the war were the Shining Path , the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement and the government of Peru.A great...
, abuses that were committed by both the rebel groups Shining Path
Shining Path
Shining Path is a Maoist guerrilla terrorist organization in Peru. The group never refers to itself as "Shining Path", and as several other Peruvian groups, prefers to be called the "Communist Party of Peru" or "PCP-SL" in short...
(Sendero Luminoso) and Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement
Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement
The Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement was a Marxist revolutionary group active in Peru from the early 1980s to 1997 and one of the main actors in the internal conflict in Peru...
(MRTA), as well as the military of Peru
Military of Peru
The Peruvian Armed Forces are the military services of Peru, comprising independent Army, Navy and Air Force components. Their primary mission is to safeguard the country's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity against any threat...
. Its work encompassed holding public meetings, collecting testimonies, and making forensic investigations. It also made recommendations for reparations and institutional reforms. Its estimate of the total number of deaths caused by the rebels and government during the period was 69,280.
In the ceremony marking the end of the Commission's work, its chairman, Salomón Lerner, then president of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú said:
- "The report we hand in contains a double outrage: that of massive murder, disappearance and torture; and that of indolence, incompetence and indifference of those who could have stopped this humanitarian catastrophe but didn't."
In its final report, the CVR identified the Shining Path as the major perpetrator of human rights violations (including torture, kidnapping, assassinations), with the Armed Forces in second place. They also noted violations by MRTA.
The CVR criticized the failures of the Catholic Church to take a stand against the abuses, especially of then Archbishop of Ayacucho Juan Luis Cipriani. A member of the Opus Dei
Opus Dei
Opus Dei, formally known as The Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei , is an organization of the Catholic Church that teaches that everyone is called to holiness and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity. The majority of its membership are lay people, with secular priests under the...
, a conservative Catholic group, he was notable in Peru for having said, "La Coordinadora de Derechos Humanos es una cojudez" (The Human Rights Coordinator is bollocks). While Cipriani was Archbishop, he was criticized for refusing to get involved in any cases of human rights violations. His supporters in Lima and Ayacucho deny these accusations.
Some politicians, military commanders, and members of the Congress believed to have ties to Opus Dei opposed the conclusions and work of the Commission. They accused the commission of an alleged leftist bias, including suggesting that Commissioners were "pro-Senderistas". They criticized the methods used to account for the deaths committed during the violence. Supporters of the Commission's work accused critics of supposedly defending impunity
Impunity
Impunity means "exemption from punishment or loss or escape from fines". In the international law of human rights, it refers to the failure to bring perpetrators of human rights violations to justice and, as such, itself constitutes a denial of the victims' right to justice and redress...
for those accused and of wanting to bury the past.
The CVR set up a photographic archive. This was the basis of materials for the exhibit Yuyanapaq (Quechua, meaning "To remember"), which displayed photographs documenting the twenty years of violence. The exposition included images of terrorist attacks, terrorist propaganda, torture victims, remains and similar documentation of the victims. This exhibition is housed in the Museum of the Nation
Museum of the Nation
The Museum of the Nation ' is one of two major museums of Peruvian history in Lima, Peru. It is much larger than the other main museum in Lima, the Peruvian National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology, and History....
in Lima, where it is open to the public.
Commissioners
- Dr. Salomón Lerner Febres: Philosophy doctorDoctor of PhilosophyDoctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
and president of Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. (Chairman). - Dr. Beatriz Alva Hart: lawyerLawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, former member of the Congress of PeruCongress of PeruThe Congress of the Republic of Peru or the National Congress of Peru is the unicameral body that assumes legislative power in Peru.Congress consists of 130 members of congress , who are elected for five year periods in office on a proportional representation basis...
. - Dr. Rolando Ames Cobián: sociologistSociologySociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, political researcher and analyst. - MonsignorMonsignorMonsignor, pl. monsignori, is the form of address for those members of the clergy of the Catholic Church holding certain ecclesiastical honorific titles. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian monsignore, from the French mon seigneur, meaning "my lord"...
José Antúnez de Mayolo: La Salle priest, ex apostolic administrator of the AyacuchoAyacuchoAyacucho is the capital city of Huamanga Province, Ayacucho Region, Peru.Ayacucho is famous for its 33 churches, which represent one for each year of Jesus's life. Ayacucho has large religious celebrations, especially during the Holy Week of Easter...
Archdiocese. - Retired Air ForcePeruvian Air ForceThe Peruvian Air Force is the branch of the Peruvian Armed Forces tasked with defending the nation and its interests through the use of air power...
Lieutenant GeneralLieutenant GeneralLieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
Luis Arias Grazziani: An expert in national securityNational securityNational security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...
issues. - Dr. Enrique Bernales Ballesteros: Doctor at Law, constitutional authority, Executive Director of the Andean Jurists Commission.
- Dr. Carlos Iván Degregori Caso: anthropologistAnthropologyAnthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
, professor at Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, member of the Instituto de Estudios Peruanoshttp://www.iep.org.pe (Peruvian Studies Institute). - Father Gastón Garatea Yori: Sacred Hearts priest and president of the Consensus Building Table for Poverty Fighting.
- Minister Humberto Lay SunHumberto Lay SunPastor Humberto Lay Sun is a Peruvian evangelical minister of the Iglesia Biblica Emmanuel, architect, and a politician . He is of Chinese descent. He studied at the Colegio San Andrés...
: architect, leader of the Assemblies of GodAssemblies of GodThe Assemblies of God , officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 140 autonomous but loosely-associated national groupings of churches which together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination...
, evangelicalEvangelicalismEvangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
denomination of the Evangelic National Concilium, CONEP. - Ms. Sofía Macher Batanero: sociologist, former Executive Secretary of the Human Rights National Coordinator.
- Engineer Alberto Morote Sánchez: former President of Universidad San Cristóbal de Huamanga.
- Engineer Carlos Tapia García: Political researcher and analyst.
As observer:
- Monsignor Luis Bambarén Gastelumendi: Bishop of ChimboteChimboteChimbote is the largest city in the Ancash Region of Peru, and the capital of both Santa Province and Chimbote District.The city is located on the coast in Chimbote Bay, south of Trujillo and north of Lima on the North Pan-American highway. It is the start of a chain of important cities like...
and President of the Peruvian Episcopal ConferencePeruvian Episcopal ConferenceThe Peruvian Episcopal Conference is an episcopal conference of the Roman Catholic Church of Peru that gathers the bishops of the country in order to discuss pastoral issues and in general all matters that have to do with the Church....
See also
- List of truth and reconciliation commissions
- Internal conflict in PeruInternal conflict in PeruIt has been estimated that nearly 70,000 people died in the internal conflict in Peru that started in 1980 and, although still ongoing, had greatly wound down by 2000. The principal actors in the war were the Shining Path , the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement and the government of Peru.A great...
- Shining PathShining PathShining Path is a Maoist guerrilla terrorist organization in Peru. The group never refers to itself as "Shining Path", and as several other Peruvian groups, prefers to be called the "Communist Party of Peru" or "PCP-SL" in short...
- MRTAMRTAMRTA stands for:* Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement of Peru * Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand...
- Alberto FujimoriAlberto FujimoriAlberto Fujimori Fujimori served as President of Peru from 28 July 1990 to 17 November 2000. A controversial figure, Fujimori has been credited with the creation of Fujimorism, uprooting terrorism in Peru and restoring its macroeconomic stability, though his methods have drawn charges of...
- Grupo ColinaGrupo ColinaGrupo Colina was a paramilitary anti-communist death squad created in Peru that was active from 1990 until 1994, during the administration of Alberto Fujimori...
- Vladimiro MontesinosVladimiro MontesinosVladimiro Ilyich Montesinos Torres was the long-standing head of Peru's intelligence service, Servicio de Inteligencia Nacional , under President Alberto Fujimori. In 2000, secret videos, which he had recorded, were televised that showed his bribing an elected congressman to leave the opposition...
- La Cantuta massacreLa Cantuta massacreThe La Cantuta massacre, in which a university professor and nine students from Lima's La Cantuta University were abducted by a military death squad and "disappeared", took place in Peru on 18 July 1992 during the presidency of Alberto Fujimori...
- Barrios Altos massacreBarrios Altos massacreThe Barrios Altos massacre took place on 3 November 1991, in the Barrios Altos neighborhood of Lima, Peru. Fifteen people, including an eight-year-old child, were killed, and four more injured, by assailants who were later determined to be members of Grupo Colina, a death squad made up of members...
- Accomarca massacreAccomarca massacreThe Accomarca massacre occurred on August 14, 1985 in Accomarca, Ayacucho, Peru. The number of unarmed men, women and children killed has been variously reported as 47, 69 or 74.-Investigations Into the Massacre:...
- Lucanamarca massacreLucanamarca massacreThe Lucanamarca massacre was a massacre of 69 peasants in and around the town of Lucanamarca, Peru that took place on April 3, 1983. The massacre was perpetrated by the Shining Path, the Maoist guerrilla organization that launched the internal conflict in Peru....
- Peruvian prison massacresPeruvian prison massacresThe Peruvian prison massacres occurred on June 18–19, 1986, after a series of riots in the San Pedro, Santa Mónica, and El Frontón prisons in Lima and Callao...
External links
- Truth and Reconciliation Commission website (Spanish and English)
- State of Fear, Skylight Pictures, a documentary about Peru's war on terror based on the findings of the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission.