Peruvian human rights defenders address JHU audience
Ronald Gamarra and Gisella Ortiz gave moving first hand accounts of former Peruvian President Fujimori's controversial violations of human rights to an apt audience of students and faculty on Wednesday night.
The lecture was conducted in Spanish, which shrunk the audience to a Spanish-speaking crowd, so the News-Letter has translated the content to the best of its efforts.
Ortiz, one of Peru's most active human rights defenders, whose brother was one of the 10 university students killed in the 1992 "Masacre de la Cantuta" during the Fujimori regime, broke into tears multiple times while sharing her experiences.
In October 1993, limited remains of the victims of the massacre were found off a highway between Lima and the University of Cantuta.
"Of all that we family members have suffered, the worst and what I can't forget after all these years, is seeing my brother that way; with his head against his chest, his hands tied behind his back and the four shots in his head, which killed him. It's unbearable because I always have this image of him been young, joking, and happy and finding him in this state…" Ortiz said.
Ortiz explained the repression of Fujimori's regime that predated the massacre and how the military operated with the stigma that all students were terrorists.
"In May 1991, the Fujimori regime ordered a military intervention in many of the universities. Military personnel controlled student activities as well as movement … many students rejected the intervention and the military personnel reacted violently. Almost 70 students were kept in detention for 15 days by counterterrorist police," she said.
"The library was completely ruined. Books that contained suspicious content were burned and courses on philosophy as well as history were completely taken out of the curriculum."
Ortiz's determined struggle to uncover the truth concerning the disappearance of her brother was met with complete rejection by the government.
The lecture was conducted in Spanish, which shrunk the audience to a Spanish-speaking crowd, so the News-Letter has translated the content to the best of its efforts.
Ortiz, one of Peru's most active human rights defenders, whose brother was one of the 10 university students killed in the 1992 "Masacre de la Cantuta" during the Fujimori regime, broke into tears multiple times while sharing her experiences.
In October 1993, limited remains of the victims of the massacre were found off a highway between Lima and the University of Cantuta.
"Of all that we family members have suffered, the worst and what I can't forget after all these years, is seeing my brother that way; with his head against his chest, his hands tied behind his back and the four shots in his head, which killed him. It's unbearable because I always have this image of him been young, joking, and happy and finding him in this state…" Ortiz said.
Ortiz explained the repression of Fujimori's regime that predated the massacre and how the military operated with the stigma that all students were terrorists.
"In May 1991, the Fujimori regime ordered a military intervention in many of the universities. Military personnel controlled student activities as well as movement … many students rejected the intervention and the military personnel reacted violently. Almost 70 students were kept in detention for 15 days by counterterrorist police," she said.
"The library was completely ruined. Books that contained suspicious content were burned and courses on philosophy as well as history were completely taken out of the curriculum."
Ortiz's determined struggle to uncover the truth concerning the disappearance of her brother was met with complete rejection by the government.
Be the first to comment on this story