As discussed by telephone, most reports available to the DIRB for the requested period dealing with human rights abuses by police forces in Peru refer to politically-related and not drug-related violence. The Andean Commission of Jurists reported difficulties in human rights reporting in the Upper Huallaga Valley, stating that in 1989 human rights groups could not verify denunciations nor record new cases in the area (Aug. 1989, 5).

The attached section of a 1990 Americas Watch report states that "drug eradication efforts ... have repeatedly been associated with abuses of peasants' rights," adding that witnesses "spoke of DEA [United States Drug Enforcement Agency] agents as participating in police abuses such as violent raids on homes and physical mistreatment" (Aug. 1990, 111). The report, however, states that United States officials "strongly questioned these statements" (Ibid.). The same source reports persistent problems with corruption among many members of the police forces participating in anti-drug operations, adding that peasants have been pressured by interdiction programs "and by police who demanded bribes" (Ibid., 105). Page 101 of the same report provides the following general information on abuses by security forces in the Upper Huallaga Valley, including one reference to anti-drug operations by the police:

In brief, the types of violations of human rights occurring in the Upper Huallaga during the past year and a half, committed by uniformed agents of the military and police forces, include disappearances, army bombardment of villages, and police abuse of civilians during drug searches. There is also circumstantial evidence of army killings of non-combatants in situations apart from the bombardments of inhabited areas" (Ibid.).

As discussed, an attached report by the Andean Commission of Jurists discusses the postponement of coca eradication in early 1990, stating that
the Centre of Coca Crop Control and Reduction in the Alto Huallaga (CORAH)assigned to eradicatehad to suspend its activities in the departments of San Martín and Hu nuco due to the threats by subversives in the area and drug traffickers, the continual aggressions against the personnel and the assassination of 31 of its members over the past year (Feb. 1990, 6).

The attached pages of Peru: Caught in the Crossfire provide additional information on anti-drug and coca-eradication efforts in the 1980s. The document states that
Cooperation in anti-drug efforts between the Peruvian police and the DEA had increased by the end of 1987 with the presence of U.S. advisors and instructors and the use of U.S. helicopters. Coca crop eradication, once done by hand, was now carried out by helicopters, since 32 workers had been killed between 1983 and 1987 (Burt 1992, 38).

The same report states that "local animosity against the police intensified" (Ibid.). Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path), which had struck an alliance with coca farmers and drug traffickers in the region, attacked the Uchiza police station in March 1989, killing a number of policemen after several hours of combat, while the nearby DEA base and the Peruvian Air Force reportedly refused to assist (Ibid., 39). Afterwards, the town's inhabitants reportedly spoke openly of "their belief that the police deserved punishment for their abusive behaviour toward citizens" (Ibid.). After the Uchiza attack the DEA withdrew its eradication, interdiction and logistical efforts in the Upper Huallaga Valley, and "the military became the administrative directors of the region" (Ibid.).

For additional information, please consult the attached documents.

References

Americas Watch. August 1990. In Desperate Straits: Human Rights in Peru After a Decade of Democracy and Insurgency. New York: Human Rights Watch.

Andean Commission of Jurists. February 1990. Andean Newsletter [Lima]. No. 39. "More on Drug Trafficking."

_____. August 1989. Andean Newsletter. No. 33. "The Upper Huallaga At War."

Burt, Jo-Marie and Aldo Panfichi. 1992. Peru: Caught in the Crossfire. Jefferson City, MO: Peru Peace Network-USA.

Attachments

Americas Watch. September 1991. Into the Quagmire: Human Rights and U.S. Policy in Peru. New York: Human Rights Watch, pp. 9-10, 33-34.

_____. August 1990. In Desperate Straits: Human Rights in Peru After a Decade of Democracy and Insurgency. New York: Human Rights Watch, 99-115.

Andean Commission of Jurists. February 1990. Andean Newsletter [Lima]. No. 39. "More on Drug Trafficking."

_____. August 1989. Andean Newsletter. No. 33. "The Upper Huallaga At War."

Burt, Jo-Marie and Aldo Panfichi. 1992. Peru: Caught in the Crossfire. Jefferson City, MO: Peru Peace Network-USA, pp. 37-40.