Peruvian authorities unearth the remains of 23 people killed by Shining Path during civil war
Record ID:
84475
Peruvian authorities unearth the remains of 23 people killed by Shining Path during civil war
- Title: Peruvian authorities unearth the remains of 23 people killed by Shining Path during civil war
- Date: 10th October 2016
- Summary: LIMA, PERU (OCTOBER 10, 2016) (REUTERS) DIRCOTE OFFICES EXTERIOR VARIOUS OF DIRCOTE POLICE MEMBERS ARRANGING BOXES CONTAINING BODIES OF 23 VICTIMS PHOTOGRAPH SHOWING HUMAN REMAINS VARIOUS OF BOXES WITH HUMAN REMAINS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) DIRCOTE CHIEF, GENERAL JOSE BAELLA, SAYING: "We have found the remains of 23 bodies, skeletal remains found have been exhumed in eleven graves and there are seven Shining Path camps we have identified in the area of Satipo, Rio Tambo and Rio Negro. This took place from September 15 to October 6, in an operation which lasted about 25 days." CRIMINOLOGY SPECIALIST NEXT TO HUMAN REMAINS DIRCOTE OFFICERS ARRANGING BOXES WITH HUMAN REMAINS
- Embargoed: 25th October 2016 20:04
- Keywords: Shining Path rebel mass graves internal conflit victims
- Location: JUNIN AND LIMA, PERU
- City: JUNIN AND LIMA, PERU
- Country: Peru
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00253FBY2R
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:PLEASE NOTE: PART QUALITY AS INCOMING
Members of Peru's Office Against Terrorism (DIRCOTE) recently uncovered eleven mass graves, where they found 23 bodies of people believed to have been killed during the thick of a bloody internal conflict more than 20 years ago.
The officers found the remains in the rural and farming districts of San Martin de Pangoa and Rio Tambo in the Junin region - located in a remote Amazonian region known as the VRAEM, home to remnant band of Shining Path rebels.
The victims, were thought to have been killed by state and rebel hands during internal strife in Peru between 1986 and 1996, according to local media.
Intelligence work carried out by DIRCOTE, after gathering information from collaborators, informants and relatives of the victims, led the officers to the graves on a plot of land, which was used by the rebels more than 20 years ago to bury their victims.
Local media reported the exhumation of the 23 bodies found was led by special prosecutors working on crimes against humanity of Huanuco. The operation was also supervised by the national police.
Following investigations, police presume the killing of the villagers was ordered by Shining Path's founder, Abimael Guzman and Shining Path guerrilla leader Oscar Ramirez Durand.
According to local media reports, prosecutors and experts sent the remains in securely sealed boxes, to Lima for identification and forensic tests.
Their remains were found in seven known Shining Path camps during an operation lasting nearly one month, said DIRCOTE chief, General Jose Baella.
"We have found the remains of 23 bodies, skeletal remains found have been exhumed in eleven graves and there are seven Shining Path camps we have identified in the area of Satipo, Rio Tambo and Rio Negro. This took place from September 15 to October 6, in an operation which lasted about 25 days," Baella said.
Though now nearly defunct, the Shining Path, or Sendero Luminoso, has waged acts of violence in Peru since approximately 1980.
The leftist group's efforts to topple the Peruvian state claimed an estimated 69,000 lives. The height of their insurgency was during the 1980s and into the early 90s.
Their insurgency was crippled in 1992, when its powerful founder and leader, Guzman, was captured, but remnant bands of rebels still ambush security forces in jungle valleys where they are believed to coordinate with drug traffickers. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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