Peru is Still Besieged with its Bloody Past
Daniel Mora, Peru's new defense minister, has been plunged rapidly into hot water over a lost comment that seemed to recommend he favors a blanket forgiveness for former or current members of security forces accused of human rights offenses during the country's bloody Shining Pathinsurgency. Ronald Gamarra, one of the prosecutors in the globally lauded trial of the previous Peruvian president, Alberto Fujimori, called for the minister's acknowledgment and a Facebook page, which mimics Mora's erroneous remarks, calling itself "Put an end to minister Daniel Mora and let's stop impunity" has nearly 2,500 followers.
It is undoubtedly not the first time a politician in Peru has put his foot in his mouth, and then said the remarks were misread. Twenty-five years on, Telmo Hurtado, an ex-army officer who led one of the most infamous massacres of 69 men, women and children in the highland village of Accomarca, is finally in custody in Peru after being extradited from the US. But hundreds more previous military and police officers have yet to be put on trial.
Despite pressure from human rights groups, Peru continues to be one of the only Latin American countries not to have signed the 2006 international convention for the protection of all persons from enforced disappearances. Peru's squeaky justice system threatens to fail under the weight of probable human rights prosecutions. A symbolic signal is perhaps needed but Peruvian society is still severely divided about its latest history.