For general and detailed information on the rondas campesinas or peasant patrols, please find attached a copy of Response to Information Request PER10145 of 2 March 1992 and other recent documents listed below.

The term rondero denotes a member of a ronda (short form of the singular ronda campesina, although the term also applies to the rondas urbanas mentioned below). Ronderos is the plural of the term rondero. In addition to this terminology found in the attached documents, a glossary of terms published by the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service states that rondas are known also as rondas de defensa civil and its members are called montoneros (INS 1992, 297).

In addition to the information provided in PER10145, which explains the historic background of the rondas and their regional differences, the attached report Peru: Time of Fear outlines differences between the "civil defence" groups formed by the army in some regions of Ayacucho, Apurímac and Huancavelica, and "democratically organised and independent rondas" that emerged in areas of Ayacucho as a community response to attacks by the Shining Path (Poole and Rique 1992, 68). The authors state that in the latter "all decisions regarding their actions are decided in community assemblies, as well as in intercommunity assemblies which discuss regional organisation" (Ibid.).

One of attached reports, published in October 1992, states the following: Encouraged by the successes achieved so far through arming the Rondas Campesinas against Sendero, the government has extended the method to the Ashaninka Indians, the biggest ethnic minority in Peru's Amazonian region. Some 1,400 shotguns have been handed out (Latin American Newsletters 8 Oct. 1992, 4).

The Shining Path has continued its attacks against rondas in various parts of Peru. On 11 October 1992, for example, the Shining Path raided the town of Huayllao in the department of Ayacucho, killing 44 members of the local ronda (Ibid. 22 Oct. 1992, 11). Another source states that the number of ronderos killed was 47 (Andean Newsletter Oct. 1992, 7). Also in 1992, a Peruvian newspaper reported that rondas have been turning to drug trafficking after expelling the Shining Path guerrillas from some areas planted with coca, such as the Apurímac valley (Ibid. 9 July 1992, 12). The rondas alleged to be involved reportedly charge fees to allow drug traffickers to operate aircraft out of the areas they control (Ibid.).

A recent development in Peru is the creation of urban civil defence patrols in Lima, also referred to in some publications as rondas urbanas. These have formed mainly in shantytowns surrounding the capital city of Lima. Please find attached two articles from the Andean Commission of Jurists' Andean Newsletter that refer to the urban patrols. One of the articles reports efforts by the Shining Path to eliminate the urban patrols, including the assassination of two patrol leaders from neighbouring shantytowns (Andean Newsletter Aug. 1992, 6). The other article describes the urban rondas stating that, according to the enacted legislation, they must be made up of local residents and be registered in the regional prefecture (Ibid. Mar. 1992, 5). The source indicates that a previous decree, which was overturned, proposed that the urban rondas register with the military. The article discusses the controversy surrounding the establishment of urban patrols, summarizing arguments against and in favour of their creation.

For additional current information on events involving the rondas, please consult the weekly compilation of news on Peru in the DIRB's Indexed Media Review (IMR), available through your Regional Documentation Centre.

Andean Commission of Jurists. October 1992. Andean Newsletter [Lima]. "Shining Path's Reaction to Leader's Capture."

_____. August 1992. Andean Newsletter [Lima]. "Shining Path vs. Grassroots Leaders."

_____. March 1992. Andean Newsletter [Lima]. "Urban Self-Defense."

Latin American Newsletters. 22 October 1992. Latin American Weekly Report. "Life for Guzm n as Trial Beats Deadline." London: Latin American Newsletters.

_____. 8 October 1992. Latin American Weekly Report. "The Ashaninka Method." London: Latin American Newsletters.

_____. 9 July 1992. Latin American Weekly Report. "Peru: Narco-Rondas." London: Latin American Newsletters.

United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). October 1992. Master Exhibit Series: Perú: A Decade of Violence - Documentation for Peruvian Political Asylum Cases. Washington, D.C.: INS Resource Information Centre.

Americas Watch. 1991. Into the Quagmire: Human Rights and U.S. Policy in Peru. New York: Human Rights Watch, pp. 13-16.

Andean Commission of Jurists. August 1992. Andean Newsletter [Lima]. "Shining Path vs. Grassroots Leaders."

_____. March 1992. Andean Newsletter [Lima]. "Urban Self-Defense."

Burt, Jo-Marie and Aldo Panfichi. 1992. Peru: Caught in the Crossfire. Missouri: Peru Peace Network USA, pp. 31-32.

United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). October 1992. Master Exhibit Series: Perú: A Decade of Violence - Documentation for Peruvian Political Asylum Cases. Washington, D.C.: INS Resource Information Centre, p. 297.

Latin American Newsletters. 22 October 1992. Latin American Weekly Report. "Life for Guzm n as Trial Beats Deadline." London: Latin American Newsletters.

_____. 8 October 1992. Latin American Weekly Report. "The Ashaninka Method." London: Latin American Newsletters.

_____. 9 July 1992. Latin American Weekly Report. "Peru: Narco-Rondas." London: Latin American Newsletters.

Poole, Deborah and Gerardo Rénique. 1992. Peru: Time of Fear. London: Latin American Bureau, pp. 65-70.