Peru Has Failed To End Police Rapes

Peruvian soldiers and police have raped women arrested on terrorism charges, despite government promises to crack down on abuses, a human rights group said Wednesday.

In an open letter to President Alberto Fujimori, Human Rights Watch said he promised “drastic punishment” after a 1993 report on rapes committed by anti-guerrilla forces.

“Despite these declarations … soldiers and police continue committing these violations, no concrete measures have been taken to investigate the charges or punish members of the security forces,” the letter said.

A spokesman for Fujimori said there was no comment on the report.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Peru had one of the worst human rights records in the world as it confronted the bloody Shining Path guerrilla movement.

Human Rights Watch, based in Washington, cited the State Department’s 1994 report on human rights, which said credible reports continued to be received about members of the security forces who rape women.