Peru

PERU Report to the Midyear Meeting Caracas, Venezuela March 28 - 30, 2008 In the fight against impunity for crimes against journalists notable progress has been made in identifying, arresting and convicting the perpetrators of the killings of journalists Alberto Rivera Fernández and Antonio la Torre Echandía in 2004 and Miguel Pérez Julca in 2007. However, there has been little progress in prosecuting the possible masterminds. Juana Tejada, Leoncio Huamaní and Pablo Lévano of a criminal court in Ucayali issued a controversial verdict last November 14 in the symbolic case of journalist Rivera Fernández. In a majority vote, they acquitted Luis Valdez Villacorta, provincial chief of Coronel Portillo, and Solio Ramírez Garay, former chief judge of the Civil Branch of the Superior Court of Ucayali, of charges of aggravated murder in the killing of the radio reporter. At the same time hit man Lito Fasabi Pizango was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the killing and Alex Ventura Panduro was sentenced to 20 years as a primary accomplice and perpetrator. The verdict was rejected strongly both inside the country and abroad. The unusual fact that the Ucayali prosecutor, Delbo Eufracio Rodríguez did not appeal the verdict, although he had asked in November for 20-year sentences for murder against Mayor Valdez Villacorta and former judge Ramírez Garay, cast a shadow on a trial tarnished by prosecutorial irregularities during the eight months it lasted. The IAPA, the Press Council and the Legal Defense Institute encouraged the Judiciary Supervisory Office to audit the trial and in December urged a disciplinary process against the judges whose initial results indicated that offenses had been committed. They also urged the permanent separation from the case of Prosecutor Rodríguez Ticona in December It. is feared that these measures may be too late. This week the chief prosecutor Pablo Sánchez is expected to announce a decision after analyzing the appeal to overturn the verdict presented by the Rivera family’s defense team as well as the later ruling by justices of the Supreme Court, who will either rule that it was a mistrial or uphold the acquittal. In either case, the decision will be an important precedent in the fight against impunity in Peru. The way the judicial process is unfolding in the unsolved crimes against three journalists is also cause for concern. In a controversial decision on October 31, 2007, The National Criminal Branch found that a complaint presented by the Special Human Rights Prosecutor’s Office in Ayacucho had no basis. The complaint was brought against Gen. Adrián Huamán Centerno, the former chief of the Political Military Command of Ayacucho, and Augusto García del Barco, commander of the anti-subversive base in Huanta, for crimes against humanity, including the disappearance of Jaime Ayala Sulca, correspondent of the daily La República. The court ruled that the prosecutor’s office had not detailed the specific actions and charges in the disappearances and killings reported. It asked them to broaden their investigations and draft a new complaint. The case is currently in the First Criminal Prosecutor’s Office of Ayacucho under prosecutor Andrés Cáceres Ortega. On the other hand, the arrest in September of fugitive Moisés Julca Orrillo, who was accused of killing Antonio La Torre Echeandía in Ancash, offers a new opportunity for the judiciary to convict those responsible for the killing of the journalist in 2004. The crime has remained unpunished since a Supreme Court branch acquitted the mayor of Yungay, Amaro León León, Marino Torres Camone and Pedro Angeles Figueroa for lack of proof and ordered their release. They had been sentenced to 17 years in prison by the Superior Court of Ancash. That is why it is important for the judges of the First Criminal Branch of the Superior Court of Ancash to call former mayor Amaro León León and twelve other people as witnesses in the trial that will begin in October against Julca Orrillo. Miguel Ángel Lozano Gasco, the chief judge of a court in Jaén, recently confirmed that the trial for the killing of journalist Miguel Pérez Julca, director of the program “El Informativo” of Radio Éxitos, on March 17, 2007, in Jaén, Cajamarca, will begin in April. With the arrest on November 27 of the hit man, Nazario Coronel Ramírez, who confessed to police that he had participated in the killing on the orders of Juan Hurtado Vázquez, there are now four people in custody for the crime: Juan Hurtado Vázquez, the alleged mastermind, and his girlfriend, Yolanda Sampértegui Campos, coordinator of the nongovernmental group, Center for the Promotion of Children’s Rights (CENPRONAM), Elvia Linares Mendoza and Dilmer Cavada Valdivia, accused as accomplices. Pérez Julca had reported on alleged irregularities in the handling of donations from abroad by Sampértegui Campos. The suspected hit man, Sabino Sánchez Ayala, alias “Chin Ayala,” is still at large. On a positive note, in February, Bersabeth Felicitas Revilla Corrales, an assistant criminal prosecutor, confirmed the October verdict by the National Criminal Brach sentencing Víctor Fernando La Ver Hernández and Amador Armando Vidal Sanbento to 17 and 15 years in prison, respectively, for the killing of Hugo Bustíos Saavedra, a correspondent of Caretas in Ayacucho, on November 24, 1988. He was seeking information about a terrorist attack in Huanta. On the other hand, there is growing concern about the increase in the number of cases of journalists who have been attacked violently and threatened with death as a consequence and in reprisal for their journalistic reports on regional and local officials. One outstanding case is that of journalist José Ramírez, contributor to the daily La Primera, who said he was ambushed by the district chief, Edward Vizcarra Zorrilla, and a group of municipal councilmen and bodyguards in November while returning from running an errand on the highway in Wari district, Ancash department. They fired shots in the air to force him to stop in an isolated pace. Ramírez said five armed people got out of two official vehicles and attacked him. The journalist, who reported the attack to police, is a bitter critic of the official and has frequently reported irregularities in the municipal government. The municipal official defends himself, saying that the incident occurred when the journalist and people with him were painting graffiti attacking his work. Another example is the attack against journalist Pedro Mamani Zela, host of “Noticiero Sudamericano” of Radio Sudamericana in Juliaca, Puno department. Three masked people burst into the studio when he was broadcasting his show and threatened to kill him and his family if he continued to criticize the regional chief of Puno, Hernán Fuentes Guzmán. In February, John Isuiza Inhuma of radio station MRB in Yurimaguas, Alto Amazonas department, received telephone death threats and unidentified people shot into his house where his wife and children were. The following events occurred in the past six months: On October 23, 2007, María Yarlequé Chávez, a municipal council member, physically and verbally attacked Carlos Monja Timaná of the daily El Ciclón of José Leonardo Ortiz district, Lambayeque region, while he was conducted an interview in the street. The journalist had reported alleged irregularities in her official travel. On the same day, Salomón Valles, host of the news program “La Voz del Nauta” on Radio Anaconda in Nauta, Loreto region, was attacked by Teófilo Navarro Do Santos, brother of the provincial chief of Loreto, René Navarro Do Santos, whom the journalist has criticized for irregularities in the municipal administration. Amandina Casafranca, manager of Radio Panorama of Andahuaylas, Apurimac region, reported that on October 28 and 29, unidentified people threatened by telephone to destroy the station’s antenna which is located on land whose ownership is disputed in court by the station and the provincial government of Andahuaylas. Casafranca blamed official Manuel Molina, who had threatened in an interview on October 23 to use force to enter the property. On November 11, José Ramírez, contributor to the daily La Primera, said he was ambushed that day on the highway in Wari district by a group of municipal officials, including district chief, Edward Vizcarra Zorrilla. The journalist is critical of the official’s work and has reported alleged corruption on numerous occasions. On November 14, journalist John Rupay Machaguay of the program “Truth in the News” (La Verdad en la Noticia) broadcast by Radio FM 98 in Mariano Dámaso Berún district, Huánaco region, was physically attacked and threatened by the municipal manager, Gustavo Sotomayor Quipusco. He tried to take the journalist’s documents that allegedly implicated the district chief, Freddy Fernández, in corruption. On November 16, Mayra Azán Mestanza, reporter on the program “Voice of the Street" (La Voz de la Calle), which is broadcast by Radio Arpegio Mix in Punchana district, Loreto region, was physically attacked by demonstrators from the Civil Construction Workers Union (STCC) while covering its protest from inside the municipality building in Punchana. On November 23, Alejandro Espinoza and Walter Anaya, correspondents of television station América TV in Sihuas, Ancash region, were beaten and threatened with death by relatives of lawyer Luciano López Espinoza who was accused of raping a child. The incident occurred when the journalists were taping the transfer of the defendant to the local jail. The relatives charged the journalists, beat them, tried to take away their video cameras and threatened to kill them. On November 24, Danilo Bautista, host of the program “The Noon Report” (El Informativo del Medio Día), broadcast on Radio California in Nueva Cajamarca district, San Martín region, was assaulted by two armed men who pointed their weapons at him. On December 2, journalists Ángela Aquino and José Arce of Marañón and Marco Gonzales, a cameraman for Nodalma TV in Jaén, Cajamarca region, were threatened and attacked by a group of teachers from the self-styled National Reconstruction Committee (CONARE) that belongs to the Unity Union of Education Workers of Peru (SUTEP). On December 15, apparent members of the terrorist group Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) left flyers at the city building in Aucayacu, Huánaco region, warning four journalists not to leave their homes if they did not want to suffer the consequences and accusing them of being corrupt and infiltrated by the police and the armed forces. The journalists are Ranforte Lozano and Segundo Ramírez of Radio Aucayacu, and Novel Pandero and Cirilo Velásquez of Radio Luz. On December 19, Rosario Orihuela Laus, producer of the program “Red Hot”(Al Rojo Vivo), broadcast on Channel 4 in Huánaco region, said she had received more than 15 death threats on her cell phone and e-mail. On January 6, 2008, José Salazar Mezarina, bodyguard of the provincial chief of Casma, Luis Lomparte Monteza, threatened to kill Antonio Azalde, editor of the daily El Guerrero of Casma in Ancash region and hit him in the face. On January 31, the journalist had an accident on his motorcycle after, he said, some subjects had loosened the bolts of his tires. Azalde does not rule out the possibility that the attack may have been a reprisal for an article published the same day about the arrest of Salazar Mezarina’s brother-in-law, Wilson Valcázar Piña, on charges of selling drugs. On January 209, four subjects in a car shot at Román Tenazoa Secas, director and host of the program “Tribuna Libre,” broadcast on Radio Súper FM in Aguaytía, Ucayali region, while he was riding his motorcycle. When they saw him fall off the motorcycle, they left him for dead, but he was not injured The journalist supported the dismissal of the chief of Aguaytía and criticized the Alternative Program Against Drugs in the area. On January 23, four officials of Maquia municipality followed Miguel Rojas Panduro, a cameraman for Canal 27 and threatened him with guns. On February 8, journalist Pedro Mamani Zela, host of “Noticiero Sudamericano” on Radio Sudamericana in Juliaca, Puno region, was threatened with death by three masked people who burst into his studio. Mamani said that one of the attackers carried a revolver and they threatened that if he did not stop criticizing the regional chief of Puno, Hernán Fuentes Guzmán they would kill him. On February 16, Harold Chota Sánchez, publisher of the daily Ahora of Bagua Grande, capital of Utcubamba province, Amazonas region, reported that Almester Altamirano Montenego, former official of Utcubamba municipality, attacked the paper’s office, breaking its windows with stones. The journalist indicated that the paper had reported corruption by the attacker when he worked at the municipality, and he was dismissed along with two other officials. On February 16, Jaime Antonio Fernández Barreto, host of the radio program “En Directo,” broadcast by Radio Elite 104.1 in Huaral province, Lima region, was attacked by Alderman Maximandro Bustamante Portaly and Víctor Campos Zapata, municipal bookkeeper of Pacaros. The journalist suspects that the attack was because of criticism and investigations about the work of the district chief, Arturo Sarmiento Verástegui. On February 20, reporter Carlos Vargas and cameraman Víctor del Castillo of Canal 19 of Iquitos in Loreto department, were detained by police Captain Luis Sandoval while they filmed two policemen sleeping in their patrol car while on duty at a jail. After the journalists had been detained for two hours, police chief Óscar Cortez, apologized to them and let them go. On March 5, 2008, Henry Bautista Alvarado of the program “Pulling No Punches” (Sin Pelos en la Lengua) broadcast on radio station Las Vegas FM, in Casma, Ancash region, was insulted and hit by Mayor Simón Balbuena Marroquín when he asked him about a citizens’ group that had requested his impeachment.