Case PER 230806
Assault / Ill treatment
The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your URGENT intervention in following situation in Peru.
Brief description of the situation:
The International Secretariat of OMCT is preoccupied by information it has just received regarding assaults and acts of ill treatment committed by security forces of the city of Lima against clients in three bars frequented by the LGTB community (Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals and Bisexuals) in that same city.
According to information received from reliable sources, in the morning of 14 July 2006, a few policemen belonging to the group called Serenazgo , a service that works under orders from the Municipal Office of Citizen Security (Direccion Municipal de Seguridad Ciudadana) of the Metropolitan zone of the city of Lima, suddenly bursted into three establishments where people from the LGTB community meet, using the excuse that “the establishments did not have an Operating License, nor a Security Certificate”, and that “it [the inspection] was necessary for the broader fight against illegality and clandestine prostitution.”
However, according to reports, the routine inspection became violent when members of the “Serenazgo” blocked the exit, and insulted and hit the owners, the employees and the clients in the bars. Furthermore, reports indicate that the members of the “Serenazgo” filmed both the clients and the establishments with video cameras without an official order. The information indicates that the intervention of the “Serenazgo” was done without the mandatory presence of representatives from the national office of the Attorney General and from the National Police of Peru (PNP).
According to the information, the owners of the affected establishments reported the incident to police authorities and presented themselves to a medical examiner to corroborate that they had been brutally hit by members of the “Serenazgo”. They also filed a formal complaint through their lawyer to the Office of the Public Defender, requesting at the same time security and guarantees for the life of the people who were assaulted and/or filmed during the events described above.
The International Secretariat of OMCT expresses its concern regarding these new incidents of assault and ill treatment committed against members of the LGTB community, in this case by the Municipal Office of Citizen Security via agents of the “Serenazgo”. OMCT recalls that these acts represent grave breaches of the right to not be discriminated against, to free expression, to the liberty of assembly and to privacy. More generally, OMCT condones the attacks by security forces against people of the LGTB community, and fears that, bearing in mind previous incidents, the perpetrators of these acts will not be brought to justice and will continue committing this type of abuse by remaining active in forces as the “Serenazgo”.
Action requested:
Please write to the authorities in Peru urging them to:
i. Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of victims of ill treatment and other assaults that occurred during the events mentioned above, especially of all members of the LGTB community in Lima and in Peru;
ii. Order a thorough and impartial investigation into these events, in order to identify all those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iii. Guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses:
- S.E. Alan Garcia Perez, Presidente de la Republica, Plaza mayor s/n - Cercado de Lima - Lima Peru. Fax. + 51.1.311.39.17 / + 51.1.426.67.70, E-mail: oginf@presidencia.gob.pe
- Mision Permanente del Peru ante las Naciones Unidas en Ginebra. 71, Avenue Louis Casai, 1216 Ginebra. FAX : + 41.22.791.77.28; FAX: + 41.22.791.77.29, mission.peru@ties.itu.int
- S.E. Luis Chuquihuara Chi, Embajador de Peru en Bruselas, avenue de Tervueren 179, Bruxelles 1150. TEL.:+32(0)2.733.33.19 E-mail: comunicationes@embassy-of-peru.be; FAX: +32(0)2.733.48.19
- Sra. Pilar Mazzetti, Ministro del Interior, Plaza 30 de Agosto s/n. E-mail: ofitel@mininter.gob.pe
Urb. Corpac - San Isidro, Fax: + 51.1.225.45.37 /+ 51.1.475.29.95,
- Sra. Maria Zavala, Ministro de la Justicia, Scipion Llona 350 - Miraflores, Lima 18, Fax: + 51.1.422 35 77 / + 51.1.255 98 56, E-mail: webmaster@minjus.gob.pe
- Sr. Luis Castaneda Lossio, Alcalde de Lima, Jr. de la Union 300 / Jr. Conde de Superunda 177,
Cercado de Lima, alcalde@munlima.gob.pe
- Sr. Carlos Manuel Asmat Dyer, Director, Direccion Municipal de Seguridad Ciudadana, Jr. Conde
Superunda 167 - Oficina 401, Cercado de Lima, E-mail: dmsgc@munlima.gob.pe
- Direccion Municipal de Fiscalizacion y Control, E-mail: dfc@munlima.gob.pe
Please also write to Peruvian embassies in your respective countries.
Geneva, 31 August 2006
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