The United Nations system that operates in Peru urged the government of Dina Boluarte to respect human rights and avoid the disproportionate use of force to suppress protestswhich have left 40 dead in a month in Andean regions.
“We urge the authorities and security forces to take urgent measures to ensure respect for human rightsincluding the right to peaceful demonstration“, said the UN agencies, funds and programs in Peru in a joint statement posted on their Twitter account.
The UN also called on the government “to observe the standards and norms applicable to the use of weapons against the protestersyes; and to facilitate a peaceful and negotiated solution to the crisis”.
The exhortation is also addressed to the various organizations behind the protests, which were asked to “refrain from acts of violence and exercise the right to protest peacefully, respecting life and public and private property.”
“We are very concerned about the increase in violence in Peruwhich on Monday, January 9, experienced one of the deadliest days since the riots began in early December,” said the spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Marta Hurtado, in Geneva.
The protests registered 18 deaths on Monday in Peru after clashes and looting in the Andean region of Puno, current epicenter of the institutional and social crisis that the country has been experiencing for a month.
The ambassador of the United Kingdom in Peru, Gavin Cook, reacted on Twitter, where he expressed that “The reports of violence in Juliaca are extremely worrying.”
“It is essential that law enforcement respect human rights and act legally and proportionally. Investigations and measures to prevent further violence are urgent,” the diplomat wrote.
The Peruvian crisis erupted on December 7 when the leftist president Pedro Castillo was impeached by Congress, dominated by the right, after a failed attempt to shut down parliament and rule by decree.
Castillo, who was being investigated for corruption, is serving 18 months in pretrial detention issued by a judge accused of the crime of rebellion for his attempt to undermine the democratic system.
