Human rights organizations are claiming that at least 26 Peruvian citizens are being held as political prisoners. One of these cases involves six members of the Ayacucho People's Defense Front who have been accused of terrorism without evidence.
Kamarka Marie Jaime Areada has more details on this case. Frederica, the sister of one of the leaders in the Ayacucho People's Defense Front, had to leave her town, family, and work to live in Lima where she is seeking legal and social help to free her sister and the rest of the leaders who have been sentenced to one and a half years of preventive prison by the judicial power.
Those who have a critical position and are democratic and progressive in Peru are facing persecution, criminalization, and stigmatization. They are being subjected to arbitrary detentions, unfair trials, and intense political tensions. The families of the six detainees say that they not only have to face justice and government persecution but also a smear campaign. The press has abusively presented them using terms like terrorists, which denigrates their families.
The Public Ministry claims to have evidence that links the Ayacucho People's Defense Front leaders to a terrorist organization, including Marxist books in their possession, demanding the installation of a constituent assembly, and presiding over an organization allegedly linked to terrorism. However, many believe that this is undoubtedly a political persecution. All over the country, leaders are being subjected to arbitrary measures, and the people do not know how to react right now.
According to the National Human Rights Coordinator, to date, at least 26 Peruvian citizens are in preventive detention, accused of promoting or financing violent protests during the last two months. One of them is a teacher who was found with the equivalent of 500 dollars and a notebook with the names of her colleagues who had come from Cusco to protest in Lima. They have not committed any crime, but they have been detained for activities they openly carried out. Authorities detained and imprisoned them because they decided to participate in political life, to organize the population, and to channel their demands. This is the definition of political prisoners, according to human rights defenders.
The Peruvian government increasingly resembles a dictatorship, according to human rights defenders. It has conducted arbitrary arrests and imprisonments, allowed police and military repression that has cost more than 60 deaths and some 2,000 wounded. Furthermore, it has expressly forbidden protests in Lima's central squares.
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