In Peru, people demand reparations for deaths due to protests amid growing unrest

As protests continue to escalate in Peru, President Dina Boluarte called for a national truce on Tuesday, which further triggered a fresh clash between police officials and the crowd. Notably, the ongoing anti-government protest that occurred on Tuesday (January 24) was the largest and most violent since last Thursday, reported AP.

The tension worsened after large groups of people, including protestors from remote Andean regions, took to the streets and demanded Boluarte’s resignation, immediate elections, and the dissolution of Congress.

Peru: Protestors demand reparation for those killed

According to reports, a total of 56 people have died, including 46 who died in direct clashes with police officials, and more than 500 police officers have been injured amid the unrest. The families of those who died in the protest are demanding reparations, and some protestors have called for the release of imprisoned ex-President Castillo.

According to a CNN report, police officials have claimed that they followed all the guidelines issued by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to disperse an assembly of aggressive protestors. However, a fact-finding mission to Peru by the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) has said that police fired on the heads and upper bodies of the protestors, and these areas should be avoided by law enforcement officers to protect human life. 

Meanwhile, Peru's President stated that the decision to deploy the military had been a difficult one but the soldiers were not sent to kill the people who were protesting against her government. She called the protests "terrorism" after she visited an injured official in the hospital. The IACHR, however, warned that Boluarte's use of such words could further instigate a "climate of more violence".

People in Peru are now demanding that the government take complete responsibility for the deaths and conduct a fair investigation on the authorities and civil reparations for those killed or injured. The crisis in Peru sparked after Castillo, Peru’s first leader from a rural Andean background was impeached by the Congress and the police arrested him, after which Boluarte was sworn in as the country's new President.

Image: AP