Arrest of nearly 200 people in Peru swells chorus against police abuse

Allegations of excessive use of force by the Peruvian police against demonstrators gained new momentum last weekend after nearly 200 people were arrested during demonstrations at San Marcos University.

Police entered the campus on Saturday (21) breaking down the gate with an armored vehicle. Hundreds of people from the southern regions of the country who went to Lima to join the protests against Dina Boluarte’s government were sheltering at the university. In addition to armored vehicles, agents used tear gas bombs and a helicopter in the operation to vacate the institution.

At least 193 people were arrested, of which 192 were indicted for crimes such as property damage and aggravated theft. There are still four detainees who will answer for terrorism. It remains unclear what exactly was considered a sign of terrorism, but members of the Peruvian government have said that the organization of the protests is the work of extremists and guerrillas.

Until the night of Sunday (22), almost all the detainees had been freed to respond to the accusations in freedom; the exception was a person who had a prior arrest warrant issued against him. In the more than 30 hours that they were detained, however, some of the demonstrators were unable to be reached, which led dozens of family members to gather in front of the unit of the Directorate against Terrorism (Dircote) in Lima in search of information and to denounce wrongdoings. -tracts.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) spoke about the case, expressing concern about the police operation followed by mass arrests. The entity urged Peru to account for the circumstances of the facts, guarantee the integrity of all detainees and respect due legal processes in cases of criminal responsibility.

Another criticism was that neither the Public Ministry nor the Ombudsman were present in the operation, which was seen as a distortion of the investigation process of the alleged crimes and a possible violation of the rights of the demonstrators, among which were elderly people and indigenous people. And all this takes place in the midst of the state of emergency renewed just over a week ago, which foresees, among other things, the participation of the Army in responding to the protests.

The violent arrest of almost 200 people on the university premises also generated an internal rift. The dean Jeri Ramón, whose request for the restoration of order was the trigger for the start of the operation, is now the target of a request for dismissal signed by the faculty of the institution.

The teachers demand, according to the Peruvian newspaper La República, an end to “the killing of Peruvians with the brutal repression going on” and ask that Ramón be held accountable for the mistreatment suffered by the protesters sheltering in San Marcos. “The images show an extraordinarily large contingent of riot police entering with tanks and then attacking the students, treating them like criminals and forcing them to lie face down on the ground. This is simply unacceptable, reprehensible, shameful,” the letter reads. teachers’ openness.

Institutionally, the university also issued a statement denouncing abuse of authority by the police. The text alleges that San Marcos triggered agents just to clear the campus doors, which were taken over by protesters, but what followed is described in the statement as “evident use of force” and “arbitrary intervention”.

The institution also says that it has mobilized a team of lawyers to provide assistance to detained students, as well as medical care for the injured and psychological follow-up.

Demonstrations in Peru have left more than 50 dead. The demonstrations are called mostly by supporters of former leader Pedro Castillo, deposed and arrested on December 7 after trying to carry out a self-coup and dissolve Parliament. The country’s Legislative Power, controlled by the right, sought to remove him for an alleged case of corruption.