According to Epicentro TV, during a judicial hearing prior to the reading of sentence for the cases Pativilca and La CantutaMartín Rivasleader of the feared Colina Group also called ‘Death Squad’, intervened to issue strong warnings against those whom he considers “persecutors” of the Armed Forces. Rivas affirmed that they must face both their civil and criminal responsibilities, emphasizing that there will be “neither forgetting nor forgiveness.”
“Just as they have begun this persecution of the military for years, it is also necessary and fair that a national palingenesis be initiated, where all those characters, subjects, entities, who have illicitly and illegally persecuted the military, “They have persecuted the Armed Forces, with prohibited weapons, with lies, they are going to have to assume their responsibilities,” were his words.
In the audience were lawyers, relatives of victims, prosecutors and others involved in the fight for justice for these murders directed by the Colina Group. Despite this, and without any consideration, he went to Paola Delgado, of the Second Superior Prosecutor’s Office Specialized in Human Rights, for having said that the accused must apologize for their crimes and told him that this was absurd.
Rivas He also referred violently to the general Rodolfo Robles, who in 1992 denounced the existence of this ‘Death Squad’. At another time he mentioned Gloria Cano, human rights NGO lawyer Aprodehand he accused him of having a bank account with money that he says has a questionable origin, but he did not mention any evidence for those words. All this happened before the eyes and patience of the judges who made no effort to establish order or make any comments.
What is the Pativilca and La Cantuta case?
On January 29, 1992, in the town of Pativilcasix people were kidnapped, tortured and murdered by the Colina Group. The victims were: John Calderón Ríos, Toribio Ortiz Aponte, Felandro Castillo Manrique, Pedro Agüero Rivera, Ernesto Arias Velásquez and César RodrÃguez Esquivel.
These people were falsely accused of belonging to Sendero Luminoso. According to the court file, a businessman, in a dispute over land, would have influenced the decision to eliminate them, accusing them of being senderistas.
The La Cantuta case occurred on July 18 of that same year, a teacher and his 9 students from theNational University of Education Enrique Guzmán La Valle,also known as‘La Cantuta’were kidnapped and later disappeared. A year later, his remains were found in mass graves. Over time it was proven that none of them belonged to the Shining Path.
Grupo Colina tortured Pativilca victims before murdering them
The remains of six victims of the Colina groupkidnapped and murdered in January 1992, were reburied in the cemetery of the Centro Poblado Pampa San José, in Pativilca, province of Barranca, after a ceremony that included a present body mass. The victims, whose names were Jhon Calderón Ríos, Toribio Ortiz Aponte, Felandro Castillo Manrique, Pedro Agüero Rivera, Ernesto Arias Velásquez and César RodrÃguez Esquivel, were remembered by their families in an event lasting more than three hours, marked by pain and the hope of obtaining justice after three decades.
Recent investigations, through exhumations and expert reports, have provided additional evidence, including signs of torture on some of the bodies and the presence of projectiles, elements that They reinforce the theory that the victims were tortured before being murdered.
In the current trial against members of the Colina group, these new forensic findings have been presented as part of closing arguments. The prosecution has already presented its case, followed by the victims’ lawyer, Gloria Cano. The defendants’ defense is expected to present closing arguments soon, with a possible sentencing in late October. Although Alberto Fujimori will not face conviction due to his death, it has been proven that he directed the apparatus that approved the actions of the Colina detachment, linking it to the crimes in Pativilca and La Cantuta.
