Information about DINCOTE officers committing human rights abuses against leftists could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. However, the following provides information about the DINCOTE, the Anti-terrorism Directorate (Direccion Contra el Terrorismo, DIRCOTE), and the situation of leftists targeted as terrorists by the authorities.

As stated in a 2002 report by the Ministry of the Interior of Peru, a principal objective for the new Toledo administration was to restructure the National Police, more specifically to "renew" (renovar) the DINCOTE by assigning to it expert chiefs in counter-insurgency (Peru 26 July 2002). In addition, the report noted that the new government would strengthen police intelligence via the DIRCOTE, which was recently "given more power" (repotenciada) (ibid.).

According to an article from the Foreign Policy Research Institute, in response to a resurgence of terrorism marked by a car bomb attack in March 2002 (please see PER40252.E of 13 November 2002 for more information about this incident), Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo

... announced that he would increase by 100 percent the budget for counterterrorism and anticrime activities in the interior ministry and reinforce DIRCOTE. Two months ago, Interior Minister Rospigliosi announced the reorganization of the counterterrorism unit, and since he took office Col. Benedicto Jimenez has been one of his main advisers. Rospigliosi and Jimenez want to regroup the teams [the National Police and the DINCOTE] that were disbanded in 1992 by Fujimori and Montesinos, and retarget Shining Path's new leadership. Among other measures, he announced the reinstallation of several counterinsurgency bases in the countryside that had been closed by Fujimori and Paniagua; reinforcement of the repentance law; maximum penalties for those who commit acts of terrorism and narcotrafficking; and engaging the general population in the fight against terrorism (5 Apr. 2002).

With regard to leftists targeted as terrorists by the authorities, a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report of March 2002 stated that:

Peru is currently holding about 2,500 prisoners convicted of or indicted on charges of terrorism or treason. Many were tried by anti-terrorism courts, civil and military, whose judges were often hooded to prevent their identification, in speedy court proceedings in which the right to a defense was severely restricted. (These "faceless" courts were abolished in October 1997.) The laws under which prisoners were charged, introduced by decree after Fujimori's "self-coup" in 1992, are vaguely worded and allow courts to send people to prison for long periods for ill-defined offenses such as "affecting international relations," "provoking anxiety" or justifying terrorism (apologia del terrorismo).

Fujimori acknowledged that the antiterrorist courts had convicted hundreds of innocent people, and he set up an ad-hoc committee to recommend cases for a presidential pardon. Since Fujimori left office in November 2000, the recommendations of a Justice Ministry committee, which inherited the work of the ad-hoc committee, have resulted in the release of more than two hundred wrongly convicted prisoners. But at least eighty cases forwarded to the committee by human rights groups and the Church have yet to be considered.

...

Nor have Peru's politicians moved to amend the draconian anti-terrorism legislation inherited from Fujimori. Yet, in what may be a step in the direction of reform, anti-terrorism judges now claim to interpret the laws in such a way as to avoid the widespread abuses of the past.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI). 5 April 2002. Alberto Bolivar. "E-Notes: The Return of the Shining Path." http://www.fpri.org/enotes/latin.20020405.bolivar.returnofshiningpath.html [Accessed 5 Dec. 2002]

Human Rights Watch (HRW). March 2002. "Peru: Human Rights After Fujimori." http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/americas/peru-hr-bck-0320.htm [Accessed 6 Dec. 2002]

Peru, Oficina de Comunicacion Social (OCOSMIN). 26 July 2002. "Balance del Ministerio del Interior." http://www.miniter.gob.pe:1337/article/articleview/185/1/8 (Google cache) [Accessed 6 Dec. 2002]

IRB databases

World News Connection (WNC)

Internet sites:

24horas.com

AgenciaPeru.com

Amnesty International (AI)

Asociacion Pro-Derechos Humanos (APRODEH)

Country Reports

Debate [Lima]

El Comercio [Lima]

Freedom House

Policia Nacional del Peru (PNP)

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