Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Dozens of dissidents detained in Peru's security crackdown Date: Thu, 29 Oct 92 14:38:17 EST Message-ID: \SE A;WORLD \SS (WS) \HD Dozens of dissidents detained in Peru's security crackdown \BY Alex Emery \CR ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT LIMA, Peru LIMA, Peru - The day after Shining Path chief Abimael Guzman was captured, plainclothes police dragged Eulogio Viera from his home in the working-class Lurigancho district and stuffed him into an unmarked car. The 40-year-old shantytown leader's family has not heard from him since. Dozens of Peruvians such as Mr. Viera, caught in the middle of the government's war with the hemisphere's most violent rebel movement, have been detained or have disappeared since the September capture of Guzman and other rebel leaders. International human rights observers have decried Peru's human rights record. The country's armed forces are held responsible for half the 25,000 deaths in the 12-year war with the Shining Path, and many of its victims have been peasants or shantytown residents. President Alberto Fujimori, who seized power with army backing in April, has granted the security forces sweeping powers to combat the Maoist-inspired insurgency. "There has been an increase in summary executions by the armed forces that the government tries to blame on terrorism," said Julia Zamora of the Andean Jurists Commission. "With Guzman in prison, the armed forces feel they can justify anything they do." Many of those arrested appeared on army intelligence lists published in October that accused 190 local figures and 60 Peruvians living abroad of being rebels or activists. The army's demand that those on the list declare their opposition to the rebels forced people to choose between arrest and the Shining Path's wrath. "The people who appear on these lists have been threatened by the Shining Path. This army maneuver is totally illogical and counterproductive," said Javier Ciurliza of the National Human Rights Coordinating Committee, an umbrella group for 34 human rights organizations in Peru. Mr. Fujimori's campaign included recent legislation authorizing police to detain suspects and keep them incommunicado for up to a month. Police often deny they are holding suspects, human rights groups say. At the same time, the security forces have been trying to regain the confidence of Lima's shantytown dwellers by handing out food and providing services from haircuts to dental work. But many fear those efforts will not be enough to offset the army's harsher tactics. "We were afraid we were going to disappear," said Pascuala Rosado, a leader of the Huaycan shantytown east of Lima who appeared on a list with other leaders. "But when we protested, the army said they just wanted everyone to publicly declare his loyalty. And now we're targets of the Shining Path." Four soldiers armed with automatic weapons guard Mrs. Rosado's mud-and-reed hut day and night. Others have not been so lucky. The Shining Path has assassinated at least six community leaders who previously maintained a low profile but were forced to state their anti-rebel position because of the lists. Pressure groups, meanwhile, can do little to compel the government to improve its human rights record. Mr. Fujimori has repeatedly criticized the groups, accusing them of serving as tools of terrorism. "For me, Amnesty International has lost all credibility," Mr. Fujimori said in early October after the London-based group urged a fair trial for Guzman. The rebel leader was sentenced to life in prison by hooded judges after a secret 10-day trial. Human rights violations appear to be increasing in Lima, but the situation is worse in the provinces. In the central Andean city of Huancayo in the fertile Mantaro Valley, Lima's breadbasket, at least 25 students have disappeared from the National Central University since July. The bodies of 16 have been found, and they bore acid burns and other marks of torture. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM