Reports of actions by the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru, MRTA) from January 2002 until October 2003, other than legal actions and protest activities from prison by jailed members and leaders of the group, could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

A September 2002 report on the capture in Bogota of members of the International Front of the National Liberation Army (Ejercito Nacional de Liberacion, ELN) of Colombia quotes a military commander as saying that the International Front "had its centre of operations in Bogota, where it coordinated its criminal, kidnapping and extortion activities with other subversive groups abroad [including] the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement - MRTA of Peru" (El Espectador 5 Sept. 2002). However, the report does not indicate if the MRTA was an active participant in such activities at the time of capture.

The most recent edition of Patterns of Global Terrorism, published by the United States Department of State, provides the following statements on the MRTA:

Peru's counterterrorist program has diminished the group's ability to carry out terrorist attacks, and the MRTA has suffered from infighting, the imprisonment or deaths of senior leaders, and loss of leftist support. In 2002, several MRTA members remained imprisoned in Bolivia.

...In December 1996, 14 MRTA members occupied the Japanese Ambassador's residence in Lima .... The group has not conducted a significant terrorist operation since and appears more focused on obtaining the release of imprisoned MRTA members (Patterns of Global Terrorism 30 April 2003).

The source adds that the MRTA is believed to consist of no more than 100 members, most of them young fighters without experience or leadership skills (ibid.). The current area of operation of the MRTA is said to be Peru, without control over any specific area, and the group is reported to have supporters in Europe and Latin America (ibid.).

In May 2003, a news report quoted the president of the Peruvian Council for Peace as saying that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC) were recruiting and taking away former MRTA members (EFE 20 May 2003). The report refers to the MRTA as having been disbanded by Peruvian security forces; it also states that the Peruvian Ministers of Defense and of the Interior had earlier denied a FARC presence in Peru (ibid.).

Additional and/or corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

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.

EFE News Service. 20 May 2003. "Peru-Terrorism: FARC Is Recruiting Terrorists in Peru, Lima Official Claims." (NEXIS)

El Espectador [Bogota, in Spanish]. 5 September 2002. "Colmbian Authorities Arrest 13 Alleged Members of ELN International Front." (BBC Monitoring 6 Sept. 2002/NEXIS)

Patterns of Global Terrorism 2002. 30 April 2003. United States Department of State. Washington, DC. http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2002/html/19992.htm [Accessed 7 Nov. 2003]

Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos (APRODEH), Lima. News archive, 2002-Oct. 2003

Country Reports 2002. 2003

Cronología Andina [Lima]. 2002-Oct. 2003

Latinamerica Press [Lima]. 2002-Oct. 2003

Latin American Regional Reports: Andean Group Report [London]. 2002-Oct. 2003

Patterns of Global Terrorism 2002. 2003

Internet sites and search engines, including:

Amnesty International. Searchable archives

Human Rights Watch. Searchable archives