[Lasnetmail] [CubaNews] Peruvians arrested for participation in Bolivarian conference

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>From Cuba News...

March 22, 2008

PERUVIANS ARRESTED FOR PARTICIPATION IN BOLIVARIAN CONFERENCE

Rights Action is extremely concerned about the current violations of fundamental human rights in Peru , particularly the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the right of peaceful assembly and association. Following their participation in an internal and public congress of the Boliviarian Continental Coordinator (CCB) in Quito , Ecuador from February 24 to 28, seven members of the Peru chapter of the CCB were detained upon returning to Peru on terrorism charges. All are currently in prison, awaiting their legal trial in which they could face up to 20 years in prison. Six of the seven are women, four of these over fifty years of age, and one is known to have cancer.

Rights Action encourages letters (sample at the end of this message) to be sent to Peruvian authorities.

BACKGROUND

On February 29 seven Peruvians (Arminda Valladares Saba, Melissa Rocío Patiño Hinostroza, Guadalupe Alejandrina Hilario Rivas, Maria Gabriel Segura, Carmen Mercedes Asparrent Riveros, Roque Gonzáles La Rosa and Damaris Velasco Huiza), were arrested in the department of Tumbes on the border with Ecuador by Peruvian police as they returned to their country after participating in a meeting of the Bolivarian Continental Coordinator (Coordinadora Continental Bolivariana - CCB) which took place in Quito, Ecuador from February 24 to 28.

The seven, members of the CCB Peruvian chapter (CCB-P), were initially detained under suspicion of Affiliation and Collaboration in Terrorism; the public prosecutor's office has since formalized this charge based on their participation in the CCB meeting in Ecuador . 

The CCB is a public forum that brings together civil society organizations interested in promoting the "Bolivarian Revolution" in Latin America . The Bolivarian Revolution is a political concept based on a call for Latin American unity, socialist political ideals and the promotion of widespread protest activities as a means of resistance to global capitalism, and has been inspired by the movement in Venezuela . 

According to media reports, some participants in the CCB meeting in Quito discussed protesting the Latin American-European Union (ALC-UE) and Asian Pacific Cooperation (APEC) international summits to be held in Peru in May and November, respectively. In statements to the Peruvian press, Peru 's Attorney General claimed that plans for terrorist activities were discussed at the CCB meeting, an assertion that seemingly refers to the protests to coincide with the ALC-UE and APEC summits. 

CURRENT SOCIAL UNREST IN PERU
In recent months a series of protests have taken place in Peru against policies of the current government of President Alan Garcia, whose approval rating in polls hovers around 30%. Protesters reject government policies related to the eviction of communities from their agricultural land and territories, water privatization, and concessions granted to gas, oil, mining, and lumber companies as well as other free trade initiatives to sell Amazon lands to foreign companies engaged in these extractive industries. 

4 DEAD; 150 ARRESTED
In response the Peruvian government has implemented draconian legislation to limit protests. On February 18, Peru 's campesino organizations convoked a national protest which was suspended on February 20 after four protesters were killed and approximately 150 arrested. Though civil society organizations called for an investigation of the killings, denouncing that among a series of repressive legislative measures enacted to deter protests is a decree which provides impunity to police who kill while deterring protests. Other measures include a prohibition against the participation of mayors and authorities in protests, a measure directed particularly against local campesino, indigenous and non-indigenous authorities who have been elected at the local level.

"THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE"
Peruvian officials have categorized current social protests, including those against the proposed Law for the Promotion of Private Investment in Reforestation and Agroforestry - without irony named by President Garcia as "the Law of the Jungle" --, as violent actions promoted by terrorist organizations associated with the subversive groups of the past and the Venezuelan government.

This proposed law facilitates the sale of Amazonian lands to lumber companies. In reference to this initiative, President Garcia has been quoted as stating, "Taking advantage of our timber and reforesting is a way to generate jobs and attract investment. We live in an ideological world that says the Amazon cannot be touched, because it is part of the idyll of primitive communism." 

THE ON-GOING CHALLENGES IN POST-CONFLICT PERU
The Peruvian government publicly asserts that current protests are promoted by members of the armed revolutionary movements who were active during Peru 's internal armed conflict (1980 -2000) in an attempt to equate those that protest now with the subversive groups of the past.

These statements, and the related press reports, only serve to aggravate social and political tensions as Peru continues to deal with the conflicts' on-going impacts including efforts to search for justice for the over 69,000 people killed during the conflict, according the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, implement a collective reparations program, and legally try former President Alberto Fujimori and other political figures from his 10-year presidential term (1990-2000). 

Hundreds of people who were sentenced for "terrorism" for their affiliation with the two subversive groups during the conflict-- the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso- SL) and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) -- continue to serve prison sentences which range from 15 years to life. With the current "terrorist" scare, those people that have been released on parole or after having served their time (on the average after 14 years or more in prison) face even more challenges to reincorporate into their society. No law exists to limit their participation in political life; in fact upon serving their sentences, they have all the full rights as any other Peruvian citizen including that to freedom of opinion and expression and the right of peaceful assembly and association. Nonetheless, former prisoners are stigmatized and subject to suspicion. 

Earlier this year, government officials stated that they would release a list naming all the people who had served time (including those acquitted and pardoned), which would be a clear violation of the right to freedom from discrimination.

One of the seven participants in the CCB meeting arrested on February 29 is a former prisoner who completed his 15-year sentence. His status as a former prisoner has underpinned government official's statements linking the CCB to "terrorism" as well as sustaining the legal charges against all seven Peruvians. 

PART OF A REGIONAL CONTEXT: 
COLOMBIAN CONFLICT AND HOSTILITIES TOWARD VENEZUELA

Following the February 29 arrests of the seven Peruvian citizens, Peruvian officials began claiming that members of Venezuela 's government were involved in promoting the CCB and supporting the FARC. These accusations come at a particularly sensitive moment, as the internal armed conflict in Colombia continues to have a great impact on the neighboring countries and people in the Andean region. 

On March 1, Colombian military troops entered Ecuador to carry out a raid on a FARC camp, killing one of its highest commanders and approximately 20 other people. Reports have circulated in the international press that information linking the FARC to the Venezuelan government was collected during the raid. Both Venezuela and Ecuador stationed armed forces along their Colombian border, and have denounced the incursion as a violation of sovereignty and an action carried out with the support of the United States government. 

In the US , there have been calls to place the Venezuelan government on the US government list of states that sponsor terrorism, a step which would escalate tensions with Venezuela and greatly aggravate fears of a covert or overt armed intervention by the US in Venezuela .

These recent events have occurred in a context in which the Venezuelan and Ecuadorian governments were promoting dialog with the FARC focused on achieving the release of hostages held by the FARC. In January of this year the unconditional release of two hostages was achieved through efforts spearheaded by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and with the assistance of the International Committee of the Red Cross. In February a similar operation, called "Path to Peace", achieved the release of four more hostages. 

Understanding that the recent detentions respond to delicate regional and national contexts, and have no legal basis, Rights Action solicits letters of protest against the detention of the seven Peruvians (Arminda Valladares Saba, Melissa Rocío Patiño Hinostroza, Guadalupe Alejandrina Hilario Rivas, Maria Gabriel Segura, Carmen Mercedes Asparrent Riveros, Roque Gonzáles La Rosa and Damaris Velasco Huiza). 

PLEASE SEND LETTERS 

To the following persons express your concern that the Peruvian government is violating fundamental human rights through the incarceration of its citizens for participating in a political meetings and protests. This distortion of the concept of terrorism to include social organizing and protest undermines the essential principals of democracy and human rights.

High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations
Telephone: +41 22 917 90 00 
Email: InfoDesk at ohchr.org

President Alan Garcia
President of the Republic of Peru
Palacio de Gobierno
Plaza Mayor, Lima 1, PERÚ

Embassy of Perú
United States of America
1700 Mass. Ave, NW 
Washington DC, 20036 
Tel : (202) 833-9860 
Fax: (202) 659-8124 
e-mail: peru at peruemb.org 

Embassy of Perú 
Canada
130 Albert Street Suite 1901 
Ottawa , Ontario , Canada , K1P 5G4 
Tel: 613-238-1777 
Fax: 613-232-3062 
e-mail: emperuca at magi.com 

* * * 

To Whom It May Concern:

I am extremely concerned that the recent arrests of Peruvian Citizens Arminda Valladares Saba, Melissa Rocío Patiño Hinostroza, Guadalupe Alejandrina Hilario Rivas, Maria Gabriel Segura y Carmen Mercedes Asparrent Riveros, Roque Gonzáles La Rosa and Damaris Velasco Huiza, in Tumbes on February 29 on charges of of Affiliation and Collaboration in Terrorism constitutes a violation of fundamental human rights and undermines democracy in Peru.

In detaining its citzens for participation in a public, civil political event, the Peruvian government is violating fundamental human rights through the incarceration of its citizens for participating in a political meetings and protests. 

This distortion of the concept of terrorism to include social organizing and protest undermines the essential principals of democracy and human rights.

Sincerely,

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