August 18, 2003
Dear Friends of the Peru Joining Hands Against Poverty Network,
Several of you have been following the news about the escalating
crisis here in Peru surrounding the impending publication of the
final report of the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
As you will see in the background paper
below, the Commission was established in 2001 by presidential
decree to investigate and assign responsibility for the more than
60,000 persons killed and 7,000 disappeared during the period
1980-2000.
The vast majority of the victims were Peru's poorest, most disenfranchised
citizens: 70 percent of the victims were from its indigenous population
in the Quechua-speaking central Andes region (Ayacucho, Huancavelica,
Apurimac, and Junin) and many others were from the Ashaninka and
other Amazon-basin people groups. It is these groups in particular
who have continued to ask, quietly but insistently, that their
husbands and sons and mothers and friends be accounted for. Our
network is working to accompany these groups in their search for
the truth of what happened to their loved ones.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has worked diligently
and has prepared an exhaustive, balanced report which, though
by no means perfect, does carefully assign responsibility to the
terrorist groups which killed the majority of victims, as well
as to the Peruvian Armed Forces, which responded to the terrorist
threat at times using excessive force. There are numerous groups
in the country who do not want this information to become public
at the formal presentation of the report on September 2, 2003,
and some are actively attempting to suppress its publication.
President Alejandro Toledo and his cabinet appear unsure how to
deal with this politically hot issue and have suggested that the
report's publication may need to be postponed for a time. They
will be announcing their decision this week.
Numerous Peruvian Protestant and Catholic Church groups are organizing
prayer vigils this week "to testify to the truth.”
It is in this context that we would ask two things of you this
week:
To pray for the thousands of families who lost loved ones, that
they might experience the grace of forgiveness and reconciliation;
and for the decision-makers, that they might stand up for justice
despite the remarkable pressure of the moment.
To read the enclosed background information and prayerfully consider
communicating your support for the publication of the Commission's
report by writing a letter or fax or email to the Peruvian ambassador
to the United States and to Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo
using the letter (below) as a guide. Our experience is that expressions
of international support for political decisions here carry a
surprising amount of weight in the decision-making process.
Please feel free to communicate any questions you might have.
Joining Hands Against Poverty-PERU
Hunter Farrell, Facilitator
Conrado Olivera, National Coordinator
Editor's note: After this letter was written, President Toledo
of Peru announced on August 21 that the final report of the National
Truth and Reconciliation Commission would be published on schedule.
See Hunter Farrell's letter of August
21, 2003.
Background Information
The Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission Process
Between 1980 and 2000, Peru experienced violent internal conflict
that resulted in between 7,000 and 8,000 disappeared persons,
between 45,000 and 60,000 killed, and approximately 600,000 internally
displaced persons. Thousands more were imprisoned and tortured.
The Sendero Luminso and Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA)
armed insurgent groups, as well as the Peruvian government, were
directly responsible for serious and widespread human rights abuses
during this period of political violence, which ended in 2000
when President Alberto Fujimori fled the country.
To support national reconciliation, a Truth and Reconciliation
Commission was created by presidential decree in 2001 to investigate
and assign responsibility for human rights violations committed
between 1980 and 2000.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has worked diligently
to address its mandate. We applaud the work of the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission and the Peruvian government's commitment to accept
its recommendations as binding. Further, we commend the active
participation of sectors of the Peruvian civil society, especially
organizations composed of victims, who have taken on the task
of justice, truth, and reconciliation. Sadly, some political parties
that had governmental responsibilities during the period of 1980-2000
are fearful of the report that the Commission will present to
the nation. They are attacking the Commission. Other attacks on
the Commission come from some media linked to the former regime.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has amassed an extraordinary
amount of information since it began its work in late 2001. It
has conducted numerous public hearings and workshops, collected
16,885 testimonies, analyzed human rights violations, initiated
a campaign on disappeared persons, and advanced significantly
towards understanding the causes of the violence and formulating
ideas for reparations and institutional reforms.
It recommends that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission make
specific recommendations to the Peruvian government as to how
its final report and recommendations should be implemented. The
experience of truth commissions in other Latin American countries
shows the importance of this step. At a minimum, the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission should recommend that the Peruvian government
establish, through legislation, a foundation or organization that
will coordinate, execute, and promote whatever actions are necessary
to carry out the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's final recommendations.
We reaffirm the importance of the final report of the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission and its recommendations that must be
issued by the beginning of September 2003, particularly those
referring to holistic reparations for victims and the search for
justice.
We call upon the Peruvian government to ensure that the important
work of truth and reconciliation is carried on after the Truth
and Reconciliation Commission's mandate ends. We recommend to
the Peruvian government that it expeditiously approve a mechanism
for implementing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommendations,
a mechanism which must be given the necessary resources to facilitate
the full realization of its objectives, goals and activities.
We urge the government and the legislative and judicial powers,
all Peruvian political parties, organizations of Peruvian civil
society, and the international community to support the current
efforts of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the mechanism
that will be created to implement its recommendations.
[This background paper is based on a statement submitted
by Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights to the Sub-Commission
on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, Fifty-fifth session,
Item 3 - Administration of Justice of the Provisional Agenda,Geneva,
Switzerland. August 2003]
Model letter #1
18 August 2003
Mr. Roberto Danino
Ambassador of Peru to the United States of America
1700 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036
Telephone: (202) 833-9860, 833-9869
Fax: (202) 659-8124, 785-0933
Email: lepruwash@aol.com
Honorable Mr. Ambassador,
The purpose of this letter is to communicate to you and to the
government of the President of the Republic of Peru, Dr. Alejandro
Toledo Manrique, our support for the process of the search for
truth, justice, and reparations which his government has supported
throughout its term of office. We are particularly concerned that
the final report of the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission
be published at the proper time and that its recommendations be
carried out.
I am a United States citizen related to the Joining Hands Against
Hunger Network of Peru, which works in local development, human
rights, and environmental protection in Peru and the United States.
We very much appreciate your communication of our concern and
request to President Toledo. Please be assured of our sincere
wishes for the healing and reconciliation of Peruvian society.
Sincerely,
Name and address
Model letter #2
His Excellency
The President of the Republic of Peru
Dr. Alejandro Toledo Manrique
Plaza Mayor S/N
Cercado de Lima
Lima, Peru
Tel. (51-1) 426-6770 and 311-4307
Fax. (51-1) 426-6770 and 311-4307
oginf@presidencia.gob.pe
Honorable Mr. President,
The purpose of this letter is to communicate to you our support
for the process of the search for truth, justice, and reparations
in Peru, which your government has supported throughout your term
of office. We are particularly concerned that the final report
of the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission be published
at the proper time and that its recommendations be carried out.
I am a United States citizen related to the Joining Hands Against
Hunger Network of Peru, which works in local development, human
rights, and environmental protection in Peru and the United States.
We very much appreciate your support of the Truth Commission
at this critical moment in Peruvian history. Please be assured
of our sincere wishes for the healing and reconciliation of Peruvian
society.
Sincerely,
Name and address |
