"We no longer have any doubt that she (Boluarte) has the main responsibility for the events that occurred in Ayacucho," said lawyer Cano. | Photo: EFE
Lima, December 17 (RHC)-- The Pro Human Rights Association (Aprodeh) of Peru announced that it is preparing a complaint against the president appointed by Congress, Dina Boluarte, for homicide in view of at least 20 deaths registered in different regions of the country.
"We are documenting the evidence. We no longer have any doubt that she has the main responsibility for the events that occurred yesterday in Ayacucho," Gloria Cano, a lawyer for Aprodeh, a non-governmental organization (NGO), told local media.
Boluarte's government declared last Wednesday a state of national emergency and since then at least 10 people lost their lives in clashes with the Police and the Armed Forces, mostly in the department of Ayacucho, located in the center-south of the country.
The death toll increased to 20 people killed in the social protests which broke out on December 7, when the Congress dismissed President Pedro Castillo, who was ordered to be remanded in custody for 18 months while a judicial process against him for alleged rebellion is in progress.
Cano said that Boluarte can say that he was not aware of the first deaths in the framework of the protests demanding the release and reinstatement of Castillo, "but he should have already forewarned that the protests in Ayacucho could trigger some kind of action like the one we have seen yesterday (Thursday)."
"The fact of taking out the Armed Forces, the fact of not warning that firearms were not to be used, already makes her responsible," said the human rights defender. Boluarte, who was the country's vice-president, assumed the presidency on December 7, replacing Castillo, who was dismissed by Congress for alleged moral incapacity.
This Friday, the Network of Intellectuals and Artists in Defense of Humanity expressed its rejection of the dismissal of former President Castillo, which it considered as an action made by "the Peruvian parliamentary dictatorship."
In a communiqué, the NGO expressed its rejection of "the measure of dismissal and imprisonment adopted by a faction of the Peruvian Congress against the elected President, Pedro Castillo". It also condemned his imprisonment. Castillo's dismissal by Congress was described by the Network as "one more episode in a chain of 'lawfare' incidents in which a supposed legal decision is applied to depose, politically disqualify or prevent the election or reelection of a progressive politician favored by popular vote".
He emphasized that "one of the most effective measures against such legal malpractice is the popular protest, which is sometimes the only way to make the will of the majorities prevail against the attacks of oligarchic minorities"
