Peru Protest Crackdown Denounced by Rights Group as ‘Brutal’

A new report from Human Rights Watch (HRW) has found that Peru’s police and military used “disproportionate, indiscriminate and brutal force” against anti-government protesters earlier this year, resulting in deaths that may amount to “extrajudicial or arbitrary killings” under international law. The 107-page report, released on Wednesday, comes five months after widespread demonstrations erupted across Peru following the impeachment and arrest of then-President Pedro Castillo in December. Of the 49 civilians killed during clashes with security forces from December through February, HRW found that 39 died from firearms, and five more were killed by “pellets fired from shotguns”. The report also details multiple instances of protester violence, including hurling rocks at police and setting fire to buildings. HRW called for further accountability in its report, stating that “no police officer had been disciplined or removed from duty” as of early February.