 | | A Paz y Esperanza Team Member Consoling a Family Member of a Massacre Victim |
"Tell Me Their Names" Campaign
In December 2008 Paz y Esperanza launched the campaign “Tell Me Their Names” to collect signatures from around the world to pressure the Peruvian Defense Minister to hand over to the Peruvian Public Ministry the names of soldiers involved in human rights violations during the armed conflict (1980-2000), specifically regarding the case of Putis, Ayacucho were more than 100 people were massacred in 1984 (see below for background on the case).
The Putis case is currently under investigation by Peru Public Ministry. The names of the military personnel implicated in the massacre are unknown and the Ministry of Defense refuses to cooperate in providing the Public Ministry with their identities. The family members of the massacre victims have been waiting 25 years to know the truth.They deserve justice. You can help by:
Background of the Putis Massacre
On December 13,  | | Family Members of Putis Massacre Waiting for Justice |
1984 the Peruvian Army presumably murdered at least 123 people in Putis, Ayacucho, Peru, which included rape of women, torture and the killing of small children. The 123 members of the Putis community, over 70% of whom were evangelical Christians, had fled to the nearest army base for protection against the Shining Path insurgency. The Army promised protection and even offered to help the community by establishing a fish farm. They ordered the men to dig a holes for the fish farm. While the men dug the holes, the Army separated the women and children, raping many of them. The Army then lined up the community outside of the holes and murdered them, burying them in the holes. Survivors told their story to the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission twenty years later. In 2008, the Peruvian government, with the help of a human rights forensic scientists, began to exhume the remains of the victims for purposes of prosecuting the crime and Christian burial. Paz y Esperanza, a Peruvian Christian human rights organization represents the victims and their family members. To date, the Peruvian Army refuses to release the names of those involved in this crime.
Seek Justice for the Victims
You can also help to obtain justice for the victims of this massacre and their family members by writing a personal letter to the Peruvian Minister of State (click here for a sample letter). In your letter to the Minister of State:
- Express your concern about this crime against humanity and that those who committed these murders are brought to justice so that the victims and their families may obtain justice and heal.
- Ask the Minister of Defense to order the Peruvian Army to give to the Public Ministry the names of the officials and others who were stationed in or had authority in Putis at the time the crime was committed, including the names of the alleged perpetrators of this crime.
- Let the Minister of Defense know that as a person concerned about respect for human life, you will be following the outcome of this case very closely.
- Send or fax your letter to the Minister of Defense at:
Señor Antero Flores-Aráoz
Ministro de Estado
Ministerio de Defensa
Av. Arequipa 291
Lima 01-Perú
Tel/fax: (511) 619-0600
Please send copies of letters to:
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