10
addition, it will take into account knowledge in the public domain, including resolutions by the committees
of the universal human rights system, its own reports on petitions and cases and on the general human
rights situation in Peru, publications from nongovernmental organizations, and laws, decrees, and other
regulations in force at the time of the facts alleged by the parties.
59.
The IACHR will include, in the evidence for this case, the Final Report of the Truth and
12
Reconciliation Commission (hereinafter “the CVR”), published on August 27, 2003, in the city of Lima.
This document was placed before the three branches of government of the Peruvian State, the Attorney
General’s office, and other agencies of the public administration, in compliance with the mandate given by
13
the President of the Republic in Supreme Decrees 065-2001-PCM and 101-2001-PCM.
60.
In the following paragraphs, the IACHR will address the general context surrounding the
incidents in the case at hand, the facts already established, and the consequent responsibility of the
Peruvian State. Prior to that analysis, the IACHR will speak of the historical background to several of the
parties’ contentions and the actions of the main players in the armed conflict that took place in Peru
during the 1980s and 1990s.
B.
Preliminary considerations – The indiscriminate violence of the insurgent groups
and the illegal actions of the security forces
61.
The chapter on “Armed Groups” in the CVR’s Final Report states that in May 1980 the
leadership of the group that styled itself the Communist Party of Peru – Shining Path embarked on a plan
to overthrow the system of democratic and representative government and to impose its own form of
14
political and social organization in Peru. Some of the tactics chosen by Shining Path in the construction
of its “new state” were: the annihilation of community leaders and local authorities; the personality cult
surrounding its founder, Abimael Guzmán Reinoso; the extermination of rural communities that did not
support it; and the deliberate use of terror and other actions in violation of international humanitarian
15
law. According to the CVR, the acts of violence claimed by or attributed to this group caused more than
31,000 deaths (54% of the total fatalities of the armed conflict), tens of thousands of displaced persons,
16
vast economic losses, and a lasting dejection among Peru’s population.
62.
By unleashing its “people’s revolutionary war” in 1984, the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary
Movement (MRTA) contributed to the insecurity that prevailed in Peru for several years and to the
violations of the basic rights of the Peruvian people. The criminal actions claimed by or attributed to this
group included attacks on commercial premises, police stations, and the homes of members of the
government; targeted killings of ranking public officials; abductions of business owners and diplomats;
12
The CVR’s Final Report has been used by the Commission in a series of cases, as well as by the Inter-American Court
of Human Rights in ruling on facts and the international responsibility of the Peruvian State in the following matters: Case of
Anzualdo Castro v. Peru, Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations, and Costs, Judgment of September 22, 2009, Series C No.
202; Case of Cantoral Huamaní and García Santa Cruz v. Peru, Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations, and Costs, Judgment of
July 10, 2007, Series C No. 167; Case of La Cantuta, Judgment of November 29, 2006, Series C No. 162; Case of the Miguel
Castro Castro Prison, Judgment of November 25, 2006, Series C No. 160; Case of Baldeón García, Judgment of April 6, 2006,
Series C No. 147; Gómez Palomino Case, Judgment of November 22, 2005, Series C No. 136; and Case of De la Cruz Flores,
Judgment of November 18, 2004, Series C No. 115.
13
According to Supreme Decrees 065-2001-PCM and 101-2001-PCM, the CVR’s purpose was to establish the facts and
responsibilities of the terrorist violence and human rights violations that were carried out between May 1980 and November 2000 by
both the terrorist organizations and the agencies of the State, and to propose initiatives intended to ensure peace and harmony
among the people of Peru.
14
Final Report of the CVR, 2003, Vol. II, 1.1 The Communist Party of Peru – Shining Path, pp. 29 and 30, available at:
www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/index.php.
15
Final Report of the CVR, 2003, Vol. I, Chapter 1, The Periods of the Violence, p. 54; Chapter 3, The Faces and Profiles
of the Violence, pp. 168 and 169; Vol. II, 1.1 The Communist Party of Peru – Shining Path, pp. 127 to 130; and Vol. VI, 1.1 Killings
and Massacres, p. 16, available at: www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/index.php.
16
Final Report of the CVR, 2003, Vol. II, 1.1 The Communist Party of Peru – Shining Path, p. 13, available at:
www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/index.php.