En Español

Anti-terrorist Legislation and the Problem of Innocent Prisoners

Democracy and the Rule of Law

Prison Conditions

Deterioration of Impunity

Threats to Freedom of the Press

The Practice of Torture

Military Justice

Attacks on Human Rights Defenders

---

PERU: ANTITERRORIST LEGISLATION AND THE PROBLEM OF INNOCENT PRISONERS

1. Since 1992, when the new anti-terrorist legislation was passed, the Peruvian government has made some modifications to the legislation in response to national pressure and criticism by international human rights organizations. However, the most important aspects of the legislation have not yet been modified.

The Peruvian government has failed to understand that it is this legislation, part of which violates the minimal standards required by international human rights treaties, which is responsible for the arrest of people that have no links to terrorist groups.

The legislation employs vague terms to describe crimes, it violates the principle of proportionality of punishment, it incorrectly typifies aggravated terrorist crimes as crimes of treason, it grants police over-broad power that puts it beyond judicial control, it allows for trial of civilians by military tribunals and by magistrates with secret identities (faceless tribunals), and is responsible for extremely harsh prison conditions.

2. The Peruvian government has twice extended the existence of "faceless tribunals" in violation of international law. The last extension, law 26671 published in October 12, 1996, extended the system until October 1997.

The extension was passed despite the fact that on July 25, 1996, the UN Committee on Human Rights specifically urged the Peruvian government to put a stop to the system of "faceless tribunals" and to immediately reestablish public trials for all of the accused, including those accused of terrorist activities. The national human rights community demands that the system of faceless tribunal not be extended in October of this year.

3. Facing the delicate problem of massive numbers of innocent people in prison, and in response to the pressure from national and international human rights organizations, the Peruvian government passed in law 26655 in 1996 which creates an Ad Hoc Commission charged with evaluating, determining and proposing to the President of Peru the benefits of pardons or grace ("derecho de gracia") for those that have been sentenced or are being prosecuted with crimes of terrorism or treason based on insufficient evidence, allowing the Commission to reasonably suppose that they did not have any links with terrorist elements, activities or organizations.

So far 226 people have been freed, 199 of whom have been pardoned and 27 of whom have received grace. However, a very large number of innocent people remains; there are still 2,000 applications with the Commission. Most of the innocents come from rural areas (56.2%), 86% are male and 70% are heads of families.

People who benefit from pardons or grace still face a series of difficulties. This urges the passage of complementary legislation that would solve them. Their criminal records should be erased, they should be relieved from paying the civil damages assessed against them when they were sentenced, and the existing procedures against those wrongly charged should be ended. In addition, given the financial and moral damage these people have suffered, it's necessary that they receive monetary compensation.

4. The UN Human Rights Committee, in its review of the Peruvian government's report during its sessions of July and November 1996, made a series of recommendations for the modification of the anti-terrorist legislation.

At point 12 of the document "Preliminary Observations" issued on July 25, 1996, the UN Committee "expresses its deepest concern about Decree Law 25,475 and Decree Law 25,659 which seriously impair the protection of the rights contained in the Covenant for persons accused of terrorism and contradicts in many respects the provisions of article 14 of the Covenant."

The UN Committee also "expresses its deep concern that persons accused of treason are being tried by the same military force that detained and charged them, that the members of the military courts are active duty officers, that most of them have not received any legal training and that, moreover, there is no provision for sentences to be reviewed by a higher tribunal. These shortcomings raise serious doubts about the independence and impartiality of the judges of military courts. The Committee emphasizes that trials of non-military persons should be conducted in civilian courts before an independent and impartial judiciary."

Similarly, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights recommends in its Annual Report for 1996 that the whole of the anti-terrorist legislation and related laws comply with the American Convention on Human Rights and proposes a series of measures that would modify said legislation.

5. We ask the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities to urge the Peruvian government to bring the whole of the anti-terrorist legislation into compliance with international human rights treaties, and in particular, to eliminate the system of trial by "faceless tribunals" and re-establish public trials.

---

PERU: DEMOCRACY AND THE RULE OF LAW

1. After the general elections of 1995, when President Fujimori was re-elected, both Peruvian society and the international community were expecting meaningful advances in the consolidation of the rule of law in Peru. However, the progressive concentration of de facto power in the Executive and the weakening of the other governmental powers has made this expectation unlikely.

2. The independence of the Judicial Power has been jeopardized by the creation of organisms such as the Executive Commission on Judicial Power, a supra-power directed by an ex-officer of the War Navy, that are above the highest organs of the judiciary. This constitutes a clear interference of the Executive in the administration and reform of the judiciary.

The loss of independence of the judiciary has contributed even more to the institutionalization of corruption and impunity and to the abdication of its function and jurisdiction in favor of military courts. The already common use of ad hoc tribunals formed by direct instructions of the Executive Commission and with the finalities of redeeming of responsibility people involved in crimes against their public function or assuring reprisals against certain people, violates the rules of due process and presumption of innocence and deserve special attention.

Similarly, the independence of the Public Ministry, an independent organ charged with safeguarding the fundamental rights of the citizenry and guaranteeing legality, has been compromised by the Executive with the creation of the Executive Commission on the Public Ministry, a group that acts above the Attorney General and surrogates essential functions in the administrative and jurisdictional realms.

3. Congress is the main instrument used by the Executive in order to achieve this unconstitutional garnishing of power. This is mostly done through the abusive alteration of basic rules of the regular procedures for passing laws.

The Peruvian Congress, distorting the unequivocal text of the Constitution, passed a law called of "authentic interpretation" of the constitutional article that refers to the re-election of the President. This law allows for a second re-election of the current President.

Peruvian public opinion rejected this law and a process of consultation via referendum was initiated. Despite the fact that the referendum was in process, Congress modified the referendum laws to add requirements that make it very difficult for any referendum to be passed.

4. The Constitutional Tribunal, exercising its functions of controlling the constitutionality of laws, found that this law was inapplicable to the current case. This decision was followed by actions of intimidation against the justices of the Tribunal, and finally, with their dismissal, even though the constitutionally-required minimal number of votes needed for this was not accomplished in Congress.

This show of force against the Constitutional Tribunal constitutes a virtual coup d'etat in Peru, as these actions of the Executive have deactivated the main organ of constitutional control in Peru.

Without independent judicial and legislative powers, with civilian authorities subordinated to military authorities in the so-called emergency zones that affect 23% of the Peruvian population, with the political will to extend the central power over freely elected regional and local authorities, and with a seriously threatened freedom of expression, there is a true disintegration of the rule of law in Peru.

---

PERU: PRISON CONDITIONS

1. The 20,405 men and 1,805 women that are in prison in Peru have their basic rights violated by the extremely harsh prison conditions under which they live. In Lima alone there is a prison population of 8,274 persons; 7,554 are men and 720 are women. Of them, 7,128 (6,660 men and 528 women) have not yet been sentenced; a mere 1,146 (1,054 men and 192 women) have been sentenced. The proportions of non-sentenced to sentenced people and men to women are similar at the national level.

The problems of prisoners are compounded by the overcrowding of jails, the lack of basic health services, and the food allowance of a mere $.70(US) a day per prisoner.

2. The restrictions endured by prisoners charged with terrorism and treason, which are in flagrant violation of the Minimal Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners of the UN, are particularly noteworthy.

Article 20 of Law 35475 establishes the following prison rules for those charged or sentenced with crimes of terrorism:

A. The completion of the punishment in a center of maximum security.

B. Continuous isolation during the first year of detention.

C. Mandatory work from the second year of detention until release.

D. Prohibition of sharing cells, which will be for one person.

The Peruvian government has just approved new prison rules,"Reglamento del régimen de vida y progresividad del tratamiento para internos procesados y/o sentenciados por delitos de terrorismo y/o traición a la patria" (Decreto Supremo 005-97-JUS del 25 de junio de 1997), that add some flexibility to the visiting and patio allowance of prisoners. However basic measures such as the isolation of prisoners that can extend to more than a year must be abolished.

3. One of the greatest problem of the prison situation is the arbitrary transfer of prisoners by the prison authorities. These transfers are made without any technical criteria, for example, common prisoners have been transferred to maximum security prisons.

While many of the transfers are substantiated by the anti-terrorist legislation, the result is that prisoners are taken far away from their families and localities, making visiting and legal defense work much more difficult.

4. Of greatest concern is the announced transfer of "highly dangerous" prisoners (this would include white collar criminals sentenced for crimes of corruption as well as former police agents) to the Challapalca prison, which is situated within an army base that safeguards the border zone, and is located in a inhospitable area about 15,000 feet above sea level. This place lacks the minimal conditions needed for human survival given its geographical placement and its extra-territoriality in matters of prison jurisdiction. National and international public opinion have opposed the use of this true Gulag in Peru, as it would establish in a slow and hidden way the application of the death penalty.

5. Equally worrisome is the transfer of a group of 37 adolescents and young people that were interned in a rehabilitation center for minors in Lima to a maximum security jail for adults in Cuzco. The transfer violated the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty and was made by a simple administrative order without the proper intervention of a judge.

It is imperative to bring back these people to their summary jurisdictions so as to protect their minimal rights as guaranteed by International Law.

---

PERU: DETERIORATION OF IMPUNITY

1. Since the passage of laws 26,479 and 26,492, which granted total amnesty to those who violated human rights between 1980 and 1995, Peru faces a deterioration of the situation of impunity. One of the direct effects of the legalization of impunity has been the encouragement of new human rights violations. The government had been warned by the Working Group on Forced Disappearances of the United Nations that this would happen:

"(...) Encourages a climate of impunity and promotes new acts of disappearance and other similar violations of human rights" (document ONU E/CN.4/1997/34, p. 281, our translation).

2. Similarly, it is alarming that well-known violators of human rights are also suspects in recent incidents of serious human rights abuses. This is the case with members of the so-called "Colina Group" who were freed by the above-mentioned amnesty laws. The dismembering of the agent of the Army Intelligence Service Mariella Barreto and the torture of intelligence agent Leonor La Rosa that have produced her quadriplegia and a very painful recovery, are some of the recent examples of the continuing human rights violations encouraged by impunity.

3. Other very serious incidents have been the foiled kidnaping of Retired General Rodolfo Robles Espinoza, the bomb attack against the Chanel 13 TV station in Puno, the attacks on the vehicle of opposition congressman Javier Diez Canseco, the attacks against independent journalists of the TV program "En Persona" as well as the editor of the La Republica newspaper and the chief of the political section of the "Ojo" newspaper, the intimidation of the press and political opposition and the murder of journalist Cesar Hildebrandt. In all of these cases, there are indications of the involvement of the intelligence services, who have benefitted from impunity legislation.

4. The Peruvian government has paid no attention to adverse national and international public opinion. It has shown no interest in the fact that the experts of the UN system have spoken repeatedly against these laws. The government has not complied with the recommendations that the UN Committee on Human Rights issued in its 57th session and repeated in its 58th Session (documents ONU CCPR/C/79/Add.67, of July 25, 1996, and CCPR/C/79/Add.72 of November 8, 1996).

5. Despite this firm international condemnation, these laws have been affirmed by the Peruvian Constitutional Tribunal. On April 28th of this year, the Tribunal declared inadmissible the action of unconstitutionality brought against laws 26,479 and 26,492, arguing that their effects "had been exhausted."

The decision of the Constitutional Tribunal ignores and questions all international human rights law and closes a circuit in which the State is an active agent of impunity despite the international obligations that Peru has committed itself to respect.

6. Finally, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, in its report approved in the XXVII General Assembly of the OAS that took place in Lima, also recommends:

"...the Peruvian State to leave without effect the Amnesty law (No.26.479) and [the law] of judicial interpretation (No.26.492), because they are incompatible with the American Convention, and to proceed to investigate, try and sanction the state agents accused of human rights violations, especially violations that imply international crimes" (our translation from the Spanish original).

7. We ask the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities to demand the annulment of such laws and to ask for exhaustive, impartial and independent investigations into old and new human rights violations. It is imperative that the Sub-Commission take back its role of monitoring the most urgent and complex human rights situations in the world.

---

PERU: THREATS TO FREEDOM OF THE PRESS

During the last few months, extremely serious incidents have put a shadow on freedom of the press in Peru. This has coincided with the dismantling of the mechanism of institutional counterweight and the growing interference of the Executive Power and the Armed Forces with the other State powers.

1.In October 1996, a dynamite attack destroyed part of the Global Television facility in Puno and of Radio Samoa. A member of the paramilitary group Colina was identified as one of the perpetrators. The attack was later denounced as part of an operation designed by the National Intelligence Service under the name "El Pino Plan".

2. After this attack, and until the present, a series of occurrences have merited the condemnation of the national and international community. Among them:

-In December the La Republica newspaper published revealing information about the plans of the National Intelligence Service (SIN) under the name of Narval and Bermuda to murder journalist Cesar Hildebrandt, the director of En Persona, a program very critical of the government, and to intimidate other journalists and communication media that were independent and critical of the government. This information, as well as the existence of the El Pino plan, was confirmed on June 19, 1997, by former Army Intelligence agent Leonor La Rosa.

-Death threats, beatings, theft of equipment, telephone tapping, kidnapings and countless other methods have been used against journalists and communication media in recent months. These attacks affect journalists and media that report human rights violations, corruption at high levels in the government, the activities of the Colina Group which is associated with the SIN, and the advisor to the Presidency, Vladimiro Montesinos. Solid evidence has linked Montesinos to serious human rights violations as well as to drug trafficking. The most affected media have been the La Republica newspaper, En Persona (Uranio television) and Frecuencia Latina (Channel 2 of TV). Journalists and media in the provinces have also suffered attacks.

-In the case of [Frecuencia Latina] President of the Board Baruch Ivcher, a nationalized Peruvian citizen since 1984, the reasons for the threats and intimidation he has endured are easy to understand. The TV channel he owns reported in April 1997 on the torture inflicted on an agent of the SIN and on the murder and dismemberment of another agent by the Army Intelligence Service itself. They had been treated in this manner for giving information to the media about the existing plans to murder and intimidate members of the press and the opposition. This action merited a Communique from the Joint Command of the Armed Forces (002-97) in which Mr. Ivcher was accused of tainting the image of the Armed Forces. Through Supreme Decree No. 004-97-IN, issued on May 28, 1997, Rules to the Law of Nationality were approved that made it possible to take away his Peruvian citizenship as well as his highly-rated TV channel. Recently (July 10th) a hurried investigation made known by General Dianderas, chief of the National Police, seems to have found "irregularities" in the process of naturalization of Baruch Ivcher. And with extreme arbitrariness, on July 13, 1997, a Directorial Resolution was published, with number 117-97-IN-050100000000, through which the granting of Peruvian nationality to Mr. Baruch Ivcher is left without legal effect. [His Peruvian citizenship was revoked]

3. The Ministry of Interior began in June of this year an expensive campaign through TV ads meant to hurt the prestige and credibility of independent communication media, particularly the La Republica newspaper.

4. National and international organizations that protect journalists and regional and international associations for communication media have publicly expressed their concern for the accelerated deterioration of freedom of expression in Peru. Without the active intervention of the organs of the Universal System of Human Rights, the free press - the only voice that defends the Peruvian citizenry against the arbitrary use of power and the violations of their basic rights today - will be shut down.

---

PERU: THE PRACTICE OF TORTURE

1. Since November 1994, when the Committee Against Torture issued its observations and recommendations on Peru, the practice of torture has continued in a generalized manner in both police and military operations, both during the investigation of terrorist cases and of common crimes. Many cases of extra-judicial execution are actually the result of torture.

2. The Peruvian government does not comply with Art. 4 of the Convention Against Torture which obliges it to typify torture as a crime with a punishment proportional to its gravity; this despite the existence of several bills to that effect that have been introduced in Parliament. Consequently, cases of torture are processed as crimes of battery or abuse of authority, with correspondingly light sentences. Equally light are the civil damages imposed on torturers, as can be seen in the very few cases where those responsible for human rights violations have been charged and sentenced.

3.This was the case with José Chamaya Pumacharis and Víctor Raúl Espinoza Tasso. The former was tortured to death in the Santa Patricia Police Station in La Molina, Lima, on September 22, 1995. About a year later, a military tribunal sentenced those responsible for his death to 4 years in prison and civil damages in the amount of 2,000 soles (about US$750). The latter was also tortured to death in the San Andres Police Station in Lima on January 20, 1994. His crime was to demonstrate in front of the Palace of Government. Two and a half years later the judiciary sentenced those responsible to 4 years in prison, but with a conditional sentence. They assessed civil damages in the amount of 1,000 soles (about US$375), an amount that does not begin to cover what the State charges for a burial in a public cemetery.

4. More recently there is the case of Leonor La Rosa Bustamante, detailed below. After her case was made public and after a violent judicial process, a military tribunal sentenced several officers of the Army to 8 years in prison - according to the Military Justice and exemplary sentence - and to civil damages of 5,000 soles (about US$1,900). This amount does not begin to cover the costs of the medical attention and medicines required by the victim. Medical costs have already reached 10,000 soles, without counting the attention given in the Military Hospital or doctors' fees. Mrs. La Rosa has been diagnosed with paraplegia and cervical infraction. According to the opinion of medical specialists, Mrs. La Rosa may be able to recover 50% mobility after a year in treatment.

5. A study of the cases registered with the Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos shows that the practice of torture is more serious in emergency zones. This is illustrated by the case of more than 40 townsmen of the village of Alto Yurinaki, La Merced, Junin, who were detained by the Army between February 24 and March 11, 1997 and were taken to the Military Base of Pichanaki. The victims, among whom were 8 minors, were beaten, hanged, drowned and tortured with electric current. The operation was part of a psycho-social plan to counteract the taking of the residence of the Ambassador of Japan. The townsmen were accused of being part of the "Juan Santos Atahualpa" column of the MRTA.

6. In cases where the detainees are presumed to be linked to terrorist organizations, the practice of torture is widespread. Recent data from a poll of 1,250 such people in high security prisons show that 77% have suffered some kind of mistreatment or torture during the investigation of their cases. 89% state that no prosecutors were present during their detention [as is required by law -translator's note]

7. Within the practice of torture, the rape of detained women is very frequent, as shown by the most recent case of Nancy Patruska Del Campo Caceres (23), detained on May 7, 1997, by members of the National Directory Against Terrorism (DINCOTE) of the National Police, in whose cells she was raped by several of her captors. She was held incommunicado during the time of her detention and was not allowed to be visited by her family.

8. Even members of the Armed Forces themselves have been victims of torture. This was the case of Army Intelligence Service (SIE) agents Leonor La Rosa Bustamente and Mariela Barreto Riofano.

Mrs. La Rosa was tortured during several days in the basement of the SIE in January and February 1997. Given the seriousness of her injuries, she had to be hospitalized in the Military Hospital. According to her testimony, she was brutally beaten and tortured with electric current. However her most serious accusation is that she saw several people accused of terrorism subjected to similar torture at the SIE.

The body of Mariela Barreto was found dismembered in late May of this year. Her head and hands have not yet been found. According to the autopsy, she was subjected to mistreatment before she died. Both agents were accused of giving information to the press about intelligence operations against the press and the [political] opposition.

---

PERU: MILITARY JUSTICE

The power of the military in Peru is reflected today, among other things, in the upkeep and even the strengthening of a special military "forum" or "status": too often special laws are applied to the military, they are tried by special tribunals and they complete their sentences in special jails. Within this scheme, military tribunals have extended their jurisdiction, interfering with that of the judicial power, undermining in this way our fragile democracy.

1. First and foremost, of the few cases in which policemen and military men responsible for human rights violations in the context of the anti-terrorist struggle have been prosecuted, they have been mostly tried in military tribunals. This was the case with the extra-judicial executions of a professor and students at the University of La Cantuta, whose perpetrators were sentenced by military justice and were later granted amnesty by the government.

2. In addition, "faceless military tribunals" have been charged with the trial of aggravate forms of terrorism under the name of "treason" (traicion a la patria). Until August 1996, 1,498 civilians had been tried by military faceless tribunals, without proper guarantees of due process. This has been established by several commissions of international experts that have visited Peru.

3. Military justice has also tried some retired members of the military for having exercised their right to freedom of opinion, despite the fact that the constitution establishes the jurisdiction of civilian tribunals in these cases.

4. In addition, military tribunals have gone as far as trying a case of drug trafficking under the figure of "narcoterrorismo" (Vaticano case) and a case of illicit appropriation of state resources (case of retired captain Cestei). This improper extension of their jurisdiction and their refusal to recognize the orders of civilian tribunals on actions of habeas corpus are fundamental characteristics of the military tribunals.

5. Moreover, all of this is happening at the same time that a publicized reform and modernization of the Judicial Power, led by a retired Commander from the Navy, is taking place. Nothing is being said or done, however, about the broad extension of the jurisdiction of military justice. It seems that the government is acting as if the control and fiscalization of political power in general and of military power in particular is not a part of the functions of the Administration of Justice.

6. The legal framework in Peru is also in need of modifications. On the one hand, article 173 of the Constitution provides for subjective (personal) and objective (material) limits to the jurisdiction of military tribunals that are too broad or imprecise and merit constitutional reforms. This is the case of the trial of crimes of terrorism or treason, which include civilian defendants, and the reference to "crimes of function" that allow the legislator to define what they are.

Moreover, the Organic Law of the Military Forum (Decree Law No. 23,201) and the Code of Military Justice (Decree Law No. 23,214) were both passed in the last stages of the military regime and thus are previous to the Constitution of 1979. They have many clauses that are incompatible with the constitutional framework and which should be repealed. For example, the Code of Military Justice considers a crime of function a very extended array of acts that really constitute common crimes: acts such as torture, mistreatment, beatings, abuse, injuries and the application of illegal orders are considered to be "abuse of authority", similarly, the code considers as a crime of function embezzlement, fraud, larceny and robbery. The People's Ombudsman (Defensoria del Pueblo) is compiling a report that will recommend bringing military tribunals into compliance with the constitutional order.

7. In response to the denunciation of the ex-agent of the Army's Intelligence Service Leonor La Rosa of having been victim of tortures, the President of the Supreme Council of Military Justice tried to justify military jurisdiction in this case stating: "We clearly see that military justice has jurisdiction first of all because all involved are members of the military, second, because it took place in a military base and third, because it is linked to function, because it's said that Leonor La Rosa was involved in unknown investigations. They were interrogating her and the incidents took place. Then where does the jurisdiction of ordinary courts come from?; from nowhere." For this member of the military, any event linked to a military function, that takes place between members of the military in a military base is under jurisdiction of the military, even if they are crimes or attacks against physical integrity.

8. Another enlightening show of the lack of subordination of military justice to civilian justice has been the disregard of three judicial writs of habeas corpus by military tribunals, in the cases of Retired General Rodolfo Robles, retired Captain Cesti and drug dealer "Vaticano". And ever more enlightening was the violent reaction of the President of the Supreme Council of Military Justice against the Attorney General who had made a criminal denunciation for their non compliance with the writ.

---

PERU: ATTACKS ON HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

1. Despite the international recognition of the work of human rights NGOs, acts of intimidation against organizations and people linked to the defense of human rights continue year after year.

2. Since the passage of the Amnesty Law in June 1995 and the judicial decision, in the lower court, of not applying the law in the "Barrios Altos" case, there have been a series of threats first against the victims and then against their families and the human rights lawyers involved in this case.

This was the case with lawyer Gloria Cano Legua, the current head of the legal department of the Asociacion Pro Derechos Humanos (APRODEH), who received several threatening telephone calls with obscene phrases between July 1995 and April 1996. In March 1996, strange people tried to force the door of her office. The guarantees asked for were never granted. According to what the Seventh Regional office of the National Police in Lima said, they could not provide guarantees against the whole Army and its Commander General.

3. In November 1995 a funerary crown was sent to the office of APRODEH together with a card signed by the "Colina community" with threats against the heads of the Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos, Instituto de Defensa Legal (IDL)and APRODEH as well as of the victims of the massacre of La Cantuta, opposition congressmen, General Rodolfo Robles and attorney Heriberto Benítez Rivas.

4. The last two have received repeated telephone threats. Since he returned to the country after the Amnesty law was passed, General Robles has received telephone threats against his life and that of his family and he has been continuously under surveillance by unknown people and vehicles. Finally the threats turned into reality in November 1996 when he was kidnaped by members of the National Intelligence Service, after he denounced the participation of the paramilitary group "Colina" in the attack against the installations of Global Television - Channel 13 in Puno. Becuase of public protest, President Fujimori was obliged to propose an amnesty law to Congress that would free General Robles.

5. Heriberto Benitez, attorney for the family of the victims of La Cantuta, General Robles and Leonor La Rosa, has also received several telephone threats against his life and that of his family, and he has been harassed in his professional work before the courts. Both in the cases of General Robles and of Leonor La Rosa he was arbitrarily suspended from working on the defense because he gave his opinion of military justice to the media.

6. In December 1996, the La Republica newspaper published several reports about the existence of three operation plans - called "Bermuda", "Narval" and "El Pino" - directed against the press and the opposition. The attacks against General Robles and attorney Heriberto Benitez would be part of such plans.

7. The Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos itself is a victim of these types of threats. The organization received several phone threats after the protests for the kidnaping of General Robles and three times there have been vehicles with dark windows and without licence plates around the office. As with all other human rights organizations, the phone lines of the Coordinadora are tapped.