In Peru, victims' relatives have long wait for justice

Published: 2005-02-03

LIMA, Peru (CNS) -- Thirteen years after her brother's burned body was found in a shallow grave in the desert outside the Peruvian capital, Gisela Ortiz is still waiting for his killers to be brought to justice. Her hopes, which rose when charges were brought against members of a military death squad known as the Colina Group, were dashed again in late January: Three members of the group were released from prison and placed under house arrest because they had been held for more than 36 months without being sentenced. "We're indignant that the judiciary has allowed this to happen," Ortiz said. "We had hoped for a faster trial for the members of the Colina Group. Who's to guarantee that these people will really remain under house arrest and won't escape?" The case underscores the difficulties that Peru faces in bringing to justice people accused of committing human rights abuses during the 1990-2000 authoritarian government of former President Alberto Fujimori, when government forces fought the Maoist Shining Path and the Marxist Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement.

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