In the 1980s and 1990s, Peru experienced violent internal conflict. This included an element of religious persecution. Far left guerrilla groups, in particular the Shining Path, carried out brutal military campaigns which resulted in tens of thousands of deaths. Both groups targeted Christians, Catholic and Protestant, and particularly Christian leaders for ideological reasons. Unfortunately, the states response was also brutal and failed to respect the neutrality of religious groups. Government forces were responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians. While religious freedom is generally upheld today, there are still thousands of outstanding cases of crimes against humanity, some involving violations of freedom of religion or belief, that are yet to be resolved.

STATE OF FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF

The Peruvian constitution protects freedom of religion or belief and in general this right is upheld. While still majority-Catholic, Peru is increasingly religiously diverse and other groups are allowed to operate freely. These positive trends in terms of freedom of religion or belief have accompanied Peru’s return to democracy over the past decade and the end of the violent conflict between the government and far left guerrilla groups in 2000. Most concerns related to violations of freedom of religion or belief stem from this violent period in the 1980s and 1990s.

IDEOLOGICAL PERSECUTION

The Shining Path, a far left guerrilla group inspired by Lenin, Chairman Mao and the Khmer Rouge, launched a violent insurgency in 1981. They regularly carried out massacres of civilians across the Peruvian highlands where the group was based. The Shining Path’s extreme ideology categorised religion, and particularly religious leaders, as enemies to be eliminated. Christians, in turn, often opposed the group for reasons of conscience, because of its militant atheism and use of violence to achieve its goals. The refusal of many Christians to cooperate actively with the Shining Path or to participate in their mandatory indoctrination sessions confirmed their enemy status in the eyes of the guerrillas.  

The Shining Path was most concentrated in the region of Ayacucho, which also happens to have a highly religious population, encompassing both Catholics and Protestants. This region was the hardest hit by the violence; more than 40% of the total number of victims of the conflict came from Ayacucho. The guerrillas actively targeted Christian leaders, even going so far as to crucify a Protestant pastor in a remote town in the Ayacucho region. In other cases, entire communities were targeted. In one case, in the village of Ccano, the Shining Path attacked during an evening prayer vigil at the Protestant church. The guerrillas opened fire on those gathered in the church, including the elderly and small children. Some were burnt alive after the group threw petrol on them. There were 34 victims.

Foreign religious workers were also particular targets of the Shining Path. In May 1991, the guerrillas murdered an Australian nun, Irene McCormack. Although she was aware of the group’s threats against religious workers and especially foreigners, she had declined to evacuate the highland village of Huasahuasi. In August of the same year, the group executed two Polish Franciscan priests, Zbigniew Strzalkowski and Michael Tomaszek, in the Ancash region. A Peruvian nun with the two priests managed to escape. Two weeks later the guerrillas pulled Italian priest, Alejandro Dordi, from a car and killed him. The same year, the Shining Path murdered a number of Protestants, including staff from the aid organisation, World Vision.

STATE VIOLATIONS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

The government responded to the violent acts of the guerrilla groups with extreme brutality, in an effort to wipe out them out. Unfortunately, this also resulted in crimes against humanity including massacres and forced disappearances. State forces did not respect the neutrality of religious groups, and were responsible for the targeting of Christians. In August 1984, members of a marine unit station nearby stormed an evening prayer service at a small Presbyterian church in the village of Callqui. They pulled out six young men and boys, all youth leaders, and bayoneted and shot them dead just outside. Later that same year, the largely Pentecostal community of Putis, which had sought government protection after experiencing persecution at the hands of the Shining Path, was wiped out by soldiers in the worst massacre of the conflict. A few years later, in 1989, a Quechua speaking pastor, Jorge Párraga, was forcibly disappeared by the military which claimed his pastoral visits to communities under his care could have been used as a cover for guerrilla activity. His remains which showed signs of torture were recovered after a long campaign in 2007. 

CSW’S WORK IN THE COUNTRY

For more than two decades, CSW has partnered with local Peruvian organisations to seek justice for the victims of the armed conflict. In the 1990s, amid the chaos of the guerrilla violence and the brutal state response, CSW reported on violations of religious freedom, including targeting of Christians on both sides, and supported the work of our local partners, Peace and Hope and the Bishops Commission on Social Action (CEAS), Protestant and Catholic respectively, to provide legal support to victims of unjust imprisonment.

Following the restoration of democracy and the end of the conflict in 2000, CSW turned to the issues of truth and justice for the victims of the violence, focusing on those who had been targeted because of their religious beliefs or activities. CSW welcomed the establishment and subsequent report of the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which found, in its conclusions that upwards of 70,000 people had died in the conflict and recommended that the state establish a reparations programme to benefit the victims. The TRC found that the Shining Path was responsible for the majority of the human rights violations.  Their investigations found that state forces were responsible for 37% of the human rights violations. The TRC also emphasised the importance of justice in the process of national reconciliation and called for full investigations into crimes against humanity and the prosecution of the perpetrators. 

Unfortunately, lack of government will to implement the TRC recommendations together with a refusal from certain sectors, including the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces, to cooperate with investigations involving the military or police has caused the process to move very slowly if at all. To date no-one has been found responsible in the cases of Callqui and Putis. CSW continues to work closely with our Peruvian partners in accompanying victims of the violence in their search for justice in outstanding cases, especially those involving violations of freedom of religion or belief.

TIMELINE

1980: Peru returns to democratic civilian rule after 17 years of military dictatorship

1981: The Maoist-inspired guerrilla group, the Shining Path, launches an armed insurgency

1984: The military extra-judicially* executes six young men and boys during a prayer vigil in Callqui. A few months later, soldiers massacre the entire community of Putis, including babies and the elderly. More than 130 are thought to be killed

1991: The Shining Path carries out a massacre of Protestant Christians in Ccano, burning down the church with the bodies of victims piled inside. The same year, the group murders a number of foreign religious workers, including Australian nun, Irene McCormack

1992: The head of the Shining Path is captured and sentenced to life in prison

1992: Democratically-elected president, Alberto Fujimori, suspends the constitution in what is termed a ‘self-coup’. He holds power for the next eight years and oversees a brutal crackdown in an effort to wipe out the guerrilla groups

2000: Fujimori resigns by fax from Asia after massive corruption under his dictatorship is exposed

2001: Democracy is restored. Alejandro Toledo is elected president and begins to appoint members to the newly created Truth and Reconciliation Commission

2003: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission publishes its final report, conclusions and recommendations

2009: Former president Alberto Fujimori is found guilty of crimes against humanity and is sentenced to 25 years in prison

FAST FACTS:

• President: Ollanta Humala
  
• Capital: Lima
  
• Official languages: Spanish, Quechua and Aymara
  
• Population: 29.4 million (UN 2011)
  
• Religions: Roman Catholic (around 80%); Protestant (12-15%); other including indigenous religions (around 5-6%)