The case of the above mentioned person is not documented in Peruvian or regional human rights reports presently available at the IRBDC. During 1988, three hundred and two (302) cases of "disappearance" were formally reported in Peru, most of them happening in the emergency zones, particularly the department of Ayacucho; three percent (3%; figure given as a percentage) were reported to be union leaders.

1 UNIR stands for Union Nacional de Izquierda Revolucionaria (National Union of Revolutionary Left), a maoist party composed of three groups, including Partido Comunista Peruano (PCP)-Bandera Roja (Peruvian Communist Party-Red Flag) and PCP-Patria Roja (PCP-Red Fatherland); as a member of the United Left Party (a coalition of Marxist groups and parties), it holds two congressional seats obtained in the 1985 general elections: one in the Senate and one in the Chamber of Deputies.

2 During the National Congress of the United Left in late January 1989, UNIR, together with two other parties, proposed the attending delegates to start a general armed insurgency, described as "a progressive, military solution."

3 The proposal was rejected by the majority of the United Left.

4 Peru has no National Guard; its Armed Forces are divided into Navy, Air Force and Army, while the Police Forces are divided into three services, though an attempt was made by the present government to unify them under a single National Police force: the Guardia Civil (Civil Guard), Policia de Investigaciones (Investigations' Police) and Guardia Republicana (Republican Guard).

5 The Republican Guard is in charge of protecting public property; the Investigations' Police has a special branch called Direccion Contra el Terrorismo-DIRCOTE (Anti-Terrorist Directorate), which participates with special branches of the Civil Guard and Armed Forces in the fight against terrorist groups.

6 Confrontations occur in the emergency zones, areas where certain constitutional rights have been lifted because of terrorist activity and where political and military command relies on the Armed Forces, though in some areas, such as some Northeastern jungle provinces, civilian authorities remain in office.

7 Reports on the confrontations are usually Armed Forces official announcements, which are brief and avoid details, journalists frequently being denied access to the battle zones.

8 Nevertheless, it is known that most confrontations are ambushes by terrorist groups, which on occasions are countered by the attacked forces and sometimes chased by reinforcements; though during the eight years of armed insurgency terrorists have suffered a larger amount of members, during the last months of 1988 and 1989 the Police and Armed Forces have suffered the heaviest losses.

9 1. Figures given by the Peruvian Association for Human Rights (Asociacion Pro-Derechos Humanos-APRODEH) in "Mar de Fondo", Caretas magazine (Peru), January 23, 1989, p. 24.

2. "Peru", in Political Parties of the World, (London: Keesing's Reference Publications, 1988).

3. "IU: Fuegos Cruzados", in Caretas, January 30, pp. 18-19.

4. Latin American daily report, (Washington, D.C., Foreign Broadcast Information Service), January 25, 1989, p. 4 .

5. "Peru", in Europa Yearbook 1988: A World Survey, (London: Europa Publications, 1988).

6. Peru briefing, (London: Amnesty International Publications, 1985), pp. 4-6.

7. A Certain Passivity: failing to curb human rights abuses in Peru, (Washington: Americas Watch, December 1987), pp. 8-11.

8. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1987, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 1988), pp. 588-589.

9. "La Violencia", in Caretas, Nov. 28, 1988, pp. 36-39; and "Financistas del Terror", Caretas, Feb. 6, 1989, pp. 38-41.