EXTERNAL (for general distribution) AI Index: AMR 46/10/95
Distr: UA/SC
UA 146/95 Fear for safety 23 June 1995
PERU Dr. Antonia E. Saquicuray Sánchez, judge (f)
Dr. Ana Cecilia Magallanes, public prosecutor (f)
Relatives of the victims of the Barrios Altos massacre
Relatives of the victims of the La Cantuta massacre
General (rtd.) Rodolfo Robles Espinoza, army officer
Amnesty International fears for the safety of Judge Antonia E. Saquicuray
Sánchez, public prosecutor Ana Cecilia Magallanes, relatives of the victims
of the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta massacres, and dissident army General Rodolfo
Robles Espinoza. According to reports, over the past few weeks all have
publicly expressed fears that they may suffer reprisals, for having spoken
out in favour of clarifying past human rights violations. Judge Saquicuray
is reported to have received anonymous death threats.
On 15 June 1995, President Alberto Fujimori promulgated Law 26479, an amnesty
law which closed all investigations and judicial proceedings linked to past
human rights violations. The law, which came into effect on 16 June 1995, also
rendered ineffective those few sentences handed down for such crimes.
On 16 June, Judge Saquicuray ruled that the amnesty law was inapplicable to
the investigations already initiated into the November 1991 Barrios Altos
massacre (see Urgent Action 401/91, AMR 46/75/91, 15 November 1991). As a
result of this ruling, the judge is reported to have received several anonymous
telephone death threats. These threats have been denounced to the press by
relatives of the judge.
Ana Cecilia Magallanes was the public prosecutor who recommended to Judge
Saquicuray that the amnesty law should not be applied in relation to members
of the army implicated in the Barrios Altos massacre. The Coordinadora Nacional
de Derechos Humanos, an independent human rights organization, has issued a
public statement asking that the physical integrity of Judge Saquicuray and
public prosecutor Ana Cecilia Magallanes, be guaranteed.
Relatives of the victims of the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta massacres have
also publicly expressed fears for their lives. In statements given to
journalists, they have made clear their opposition to the amnesty law. They
expressed particular concern about the release of members of the army who had
already been sentenced for the murder of nine students and a professor from
La Cantuta University in July 1992 (see Peru: La Cantuta killings and other
human rights violations not yet fully investigated, AMR 46/03/94, March 1994).
Some of those sentenced were being investigated by Judge Saquicuray and public
prosecutor Ana Cecilia Magallanes for the killing of 15 people in the Barrios
Altos case.
Dissident army general Rodolfo Robles, who returned to Peru as a result of
the promulgation of the amnesty law, is also feared to be at risk. General
Rodolfo Robles fled to Argentina in May 1992, after making public the fact
that a "destacamento especial", "special detachment", known as the Grupo Colina,
and linked to the Servicio de Inteligencia del Ejército (SIE), Army Intelligence
Service, had been responsible for the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta massacres.
At the time, General Rodolfo Robles claimed that he and his family had received
death threats.