RIGHTS-PERU: Reparations for Victims of Political Violence One Step Closer to Reality

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Ramiro Escobar

LIMA, May 2 2005 (IPS) - Reparations for the hundreds of thousands of victims of the internal armed conflict that raged in Peru between 1980 and 2000 have come one step closer to reality following a series of meetings by government authorities and officials at the Council of Ministers headquarters.

The High-Level Multisectorial Commission for the Design and Monitoring of a Policy of Peace, Collective Reparations and National Reconciliation, better known as CMAN, reported on Friday that it has asked the Peruvian government for a budget increase of 48 million sols (around 15 million dollars) to provide compensation to communities affected by the violence.

CMAN executive secretary Jaime Urrutia told IPS that the request is expected to be approved by the Council of Ministers and subsequently by Congress.

During the 20-year armed conflict in Peru, which pitted the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) Maoist guerrillas against the Peruvian army, almost 70,000 people were killed, including a large number of civilians uninvolved in the fighting, according to estimates gathered by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

“The number of ‘disappeared’ is calculated at close to 9,000, and the people displaced and left disabled number in the thousands as well, without even considering the victims of rape, for which it has always been difficult to reach precise figures,” Urrutia noted.

Given statistics like these, the amount requested by CMAN would appear to be little more than a drop in the bucket.

Part of the problem lies in the difficulty in determining the exact number of people affected by the political violence. In the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report, submitted Aug. 28, 2003, the total death toll was estimated at 69,280, based on calculations deemed reliable, for lack of precise figures, since thousands of victims had no official documentation of any kind.

The report estimated the number of clandestine burial sites, both collective and individual, to be over 4,000, but most of these have still not been precisely located, and relatively few exhumations have been carried out.

The persistence of the CMAN in pursuing reparations seems to have born political fruit. “We have perceived renewed interest in the subject on the part of President Alejandro Toledo,” noted Ernesto Alayza, who has been participating in this commission as a representative of the National Human Rights Coordinating Group, the country’s largest network of non-governmental human rights organisations.

Alayza told IPS that the importance of the most recent request made to the government lies in the fact that it is the first time that funds have been sought to compensate communities shown to be affected by the violence through studies carried out by the CMAN.

“Up until now, everything was done on the basis of isolated requests,” he explained.

The Peruvian government has already allocated over 34 million dollars from this year’s overall budget to providing compensation for the victims of the conflict, which is being distributed by ministries and regional and local governments, although control over the handling of these funds is somewhat lax.

The new request made by the CMAN, on the other hand, states in detail that the money will be handed over to more than 246,000 people in eight departments (regions), 35 provinces, 129 districts and 562 communities, all of them precisely identified, noted Urrutia, who pointed out that in any case, the total amount involved is extremely limited.

“An additional 60 million sols (almost 19 million dollars) has been requested for 2006, but the total still falls short. I believe the reparations process should last around 10 years,” he said.

This view is shared by Sofía Macher, a former member of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, who also emphasised the need to create a National Registry of Victims.

“A registry is indispensable as a starting point, because without a clear determination of who was affected, reparations cannot be complete,” she maintained.

She also believes that the government should issue a document that identifies the victims and symbolises full recognition of the errors that were made.

“Without this, there will be no restitution of rights, and the funds handed out could be simply viewed as social assistance,” stressed Macher.

In Peru, the immense majority of the victims of political violence belonged to the poorest, most excluded sectors of the population.

For her part, Julie Guillerot of the Pro Human Rights Association remarked that the consultation process that led to the establishment of the reparations programme was “extremely limited and did not include the entire affected population.” Like Macher and Urrutia, she believes a registry of victims is urgently needed.

The statistics compiled in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report reflect the extent to which the poor bore the brunt of the violence in Peru: 75 percent of the victims spoke Quechua or another indigenous language, and 79 percent lived in rural areas, where the most economically deprived sectors of the population are concentrated.

According to the report, Sendero Luminoso was responsible for nearly 54 percent of deaths and forced disappearances, while the armed forces, police and their allies – “self-defence committees” and paramilitary groups – were responsible for more than 37 percent of the deaths and forced disappearances, and 61 percent of the people who died at the hands of state agents were victims of forced disappearance.

The funds requested for reparations will be used for scholarships, free education and health care services, the rebuilding of damaged roads and infrastructure, mental health programmes and housing construction. But in the end, no amount of money could really compensate the tens of thousands of Peruvians who lost families, friends – and hope.