Twenty-four year wait for justice in Peru

The military officer thought to be responsible for a 1984 massacre in Peru has been summoned to appear in court at the end of this week.

The former general, Wilfredo Mori Orzo,has been ordered to give a public declaration regarding the events which took place on 13 December 1984 in Putis, in the Andean highlands, when 123 men women and children are thought to have been killed.

The Public Prosecutor’s Superior Office in Lima has issued a citation to Mori Orzo, to appear in court on 29 and 30 January to make a public declaration as part of the investigations into the events of 13 December 1984 in Putis. Six other soldiers in Mori Orzo’s unit at the time have also been summoned to give their version of events.

Mori Orzo failed to appear in court following a previous citation from the Public Prosecutor’s offices in Ayacucho. He cited work and health reasons and requested a transfer of the proceedings to Lima.

According to the Peruvian human rights organisation, Peace and Hope, Mori Orzo has also been implicated in other human rights atrocities including the 1985 massacre at Accomarca and hundreds of cases of torture and extra-judicial killings at the Los Cabitos base in Ayacucho.

The massacre at Putis took place in a remote part of the Andean highlands and targeted a community made up of Quechua speaking indigenous people. The Shining Path, a Maoist terrorist group which waged a bloody insurgency throughout the 1980s and 1990s, had a strong presence in the area during that period. In 1984, following the murder of the town mayor by the Shining Path, the community, asked the Peruvian military to establish a base nearby to protect them from the guerrillas.

The military agreed to protect and help the community. After setting up a base there, they organised the men to dig out a series of shallow pools to be used for trout-farming. When the men had finished, the soldiers lined up the members of the community, including women and children, and proceeded to open fire. The pools were used to bury their bodies. 123 men women and children are thought to have been killed. Thus far over 60 bodies, including the remains of infants, have been recovered.

The exhumation has received little official support and there is limited government will to put the military officials responsible for the massacre on trial. CSW’s Advocacy Director, Tina Lambert, said: “We are calling on President Garcia of Peru, Prime Minister Simon, and their government ministers to fully support this judicial process. It is imperative, that the Ministry of Defence, in particular, cooperates with the investigation. A 24 year wait for justice is absolutely indefensible, and while this comes too late for the victims of Putis, we believe that this provides an opportunity to take a significant step forward in the fight against impunity.”

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