Amnesty report finds racial bias in Peru's protest crackdown

The report comes as Peru declares Mexican President Lopez Obrador a ‘persona non grata’ after he criticised the protest response.



A protester faces police in Lima, Peru, during a march against the government of President Dina Boluarte [File: Alessandro Cinque/Reuters]

By Brian Osgood
Published On 26 May 2023

The Peruvian government was more likely to use lethal violence in marginalised areas of the country as part of its crackdown on recent anti-government protests, a report by rights group Amnesty International has found.

Thursday’s report, “Lethal racism”, alleges the government’s actions may constitute extrajudicial executions in some cases. Amnesty calls for the Peruvian Attorney General’s Office to investigate the use of excessive force in response to the protests.

“Using lethal firearms against protesters shows a blatant disregard for human life,” Agnes Callamard, Amnesty’s secretary general, said in a press release.

“Despite the government’s efforts to paint them as terrorists or criminals, those killed were demonstrators, observers and bystanders. Almost all of them were from poor, Indigenous and campesino backgrounds, suggesting a racial and socioeconomic bias in the use of lethal force.”

The report is the latest to find that Peru’s government wielded disproportionate violence and targeted people from poor and Indigenous backgrounds during the protests that enveloped the country following the ouster of former President Pedro Castillo.

More:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/26/amnesty-report-finds-racial-bias-in-perus-protest-crackdown