Truth Commission
An estimated 70,000 Peruvians lost their lives between 1980 and 2000 as a result of violent conflict between the security forces and two guerrilla organisations, Sendero Luminoso and the Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru (MRTA). Hundreds of thousands were forced to flee their homes in search of refuge. The death toll in Peru in these years overshadows that, for instance, of Chile and Argentina in the 1970s. Most of the victims were innocent people, caught in the crossfire in this most savage struggle for power and control in the central and southern Andes. They were mainly poor Quechua-speaking peasant farmers, whose families suffered immensely and whose communities were often destroyed.
For much of the last 20 years, these were people that the rest of Peru preferred to forget. Until recently, the true dimensions of human suffering were not known. A Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) – appointed in 2001 to piece together the history of human rights violations in the Andes and to recommend policies to help mitigate the suffering – published its nine-volume report in August 2003. It made for grim reading. However, uncovering the truth of what happened is but a first step. As Salomon Lerner, the Commission's president, said upon publication: "Our work is complete, but the task of building justice and reconciliation has only just begun." The PSG has produced a publication which seeks to describe the work of the commission and to present both its main findings and its recommendations for action.
Download a printable copy of the publication
Findings
- In the twenty years under investigation, it is believed that 69,280 people lost their lives.
This is about twice the number of the people killed in Chile and Argentina in the killings that followed the 1970s coups in those two countries. The TRC's estimate of the total deaths is more than double any previous estimate. How could some 35,000 people simply disappear from the scene without anyone realising it?
The number of deaths actually reported to the TRC was 28,000, and the difference arises from taking the estimates of various other organisations but cross-checking them to avoid counting the same victims twice or more. Under pressure of time and money, the TRC was forced to concentrate its efforts in specific parts of the country. The TRC says that the 69,280 figure is subject to a 5% margin of error either way (i.e. between 61,007 and 77,552). - Of the total number of deaths reported to the Commission, more than 40% took place in Ayacucho.
Ayacucho, Junín, Huánuco, Huancavelica and Apurímac together account for 85% of the deaths reported. These are among the poorest departments of Peru. - Of the total deaths, 79% were inhabitants of rural areas, and 56% were peasants. Three quarters came from families whose mother tongue was Quechua (or some other indigenous language).
As a proportion of the total population, the 1993 census reveals that only 16% fall into this category. The huge majority were people living in poverty or extreme poverty, as officially defined. - Of those killed, 68% had no secondary education, a much higher figure than the national average.
- Some 54% of the killings reported to the TRC were carried out by Sendero Luminoso, 1.5% by the MRTA.
The remainder were perpetrated by the police, army, navy or peasant militias. - The worst periods of killing were in 1983 and 1984, during the Belaúnde government (1980-85).
Following something of a lull in 1985 and 1986, the numbers increased again in the period 1987-90. During the 1990s, and especially after the capture of Abimael Guzmán in 1992, the death toll tailed off notably. - Of those, killed 80% were men. 59% of the victims were married with families. Thousands of children were left as orphans.
- 4,000 burial sites were identified by the TRC.
