Risk of impunity for police agents accused of rape in Ascope.

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requires your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Peru.

Brief description of the situation

The International Secretariat of OMCT has received information from reliable sources, including from Antenna International, member organisation of OMCT SOS-Torture network, about the release of three police officers, who allegedly raped an individual they believed to be homosexual, after they had previously been arrested.

According to the information received, on 25 February 2008, Mr. Luis Alberto Rojas Marín (26 years old) was raped by police officers identified as Dino Horacio Ponce Pardo, Luís Miguel Quispe Cáceres and Juan Isaac León Mostacero at the National Police of Peru (Policía Nacional del Perú, PNP) station in the district of Casa Grande, in the Ascope County, in the La Libertad Region, in the northern coast of Peru. Mr. Rojas Marín was reportedly further subjected to sexual nature’s forms of ill-treatment and was robbed of his belongings.

According to the same information, on 11 April 2008, an Ascope County magistrate ordered the three police officers accused of the crime to be detained in custody. This is the first time that the authorities in Peru have arrested people because of hate crimes or human rights abuses related to sexual orientation, which OMCT particularly welcomes.

However, OMCT has been informed that, after family and friends of the police officers organised marches to support the officers, authorities of the La Libertad Regional Judicial Court freed them. This action, which would be reportedly politically motivated, effectively nullified the original detention order, undermining the law and the confidence of the community in the State of Peru to seriously consider crimes committed against members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

OMCT expresses its serious concerns for the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Luis Alberto Rojas Marín, of his family members and generally of the witnesses and/or individuals related to the case and urges the authorities in Peru to take all necessary measures to guarantee their safety.

Action requested

Please write to the authorities in Peru urging them to:

1. Take immediate appropriate measures to guarantee the safety and physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Luis Alberto Rojas Marín and all his members of his family;
2. 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;
3. Guarantee that adequate compensation is awarded to Mr. Luis Alberto Rojas Marín;
4. Ensure the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards, in particular with the Convention against Torture.

Addresses

• H. E. Alan García Pérez, President of the Republic, 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
• H.E. Ambassador José Eduardo Ponce Vivanco, Permanent Mission of Peru to the United Nations in Geneva. 71, Avenue Louis Casaï, 1216 Geneva. TEL. : + 41.22.7917721; FAX: +41.22.7917728 y +41.22.7917729 FAX : + 41.22.791.77.28; FAX: + 41.22.791.77.29, E-mail : mission.peru@ties.itu.int
• H. E. Raúl Alfonso Rivera Maravi, Ambassador of Peru in Brussels, Avenue de Tervueren 179, Brussels 1150. TEL.:+32 (0) 2.733.33.19 E-mail: comunicationes@embassy-of-peru.be; E-mail: consulate.peru@conperbruselas.be FAX: +32(0)2.733.48.19
• Ambassador Jorge Pablo Voto-Bernales Gatica, Diplomatic Mission of Peru to the United Nations in New York, TEL.: + 1.212. 687.33.36. FAX: + 1-212 9726975; + 1.212 883.05.91. E-mail: onuper@aol.com
• Mr. Luis Alva Castro, Minister of Interior, Plaza 30 de Agosto s/n. E-mail: ofitel@mininter.gob.pe; e-mail: ministro@mininter.gob.pe Urb. Corpac - San Isidro, Fax: + 51.1.225.45.37 / 51.1.475.29.95,
• General® DaniloApolonio Guevara Zegarra, Viceministro del Interior: E-mail: viceministro@mininter.gob.pe
• Mrs. Rosario del Pilar Fernández Figueroa, Minister of Justice, Scipión Llona 350 - Miraflores, Lima 18, Fax: + 51.1.422 35 77 / + 51.1.255 98 56, TEL.: + 51.1. 422-0301 - 422-0288; E-mail: webmaster@minjus.gob.pe
• Mr. Octavio Salazar Miranda, General of Police, General Director of PNP. Fax: 51.1.421-3097, E-mail: inspector@pnp.gob.pe; inspectorigpnp@yahoo.esMr. Luis Castañeda Lossio, Mayor of de Lima, Jr. de la Unión 300 / Jr. Conde de Superunda 177, Cercado de Lima, E-mail: alcalde@munlima.gob.pe
• Mr. Carlos Manuel Asmat Dyer, Director, Dirección Municipal de Seguridad Ciudadana, Jr. Conde Superunda 167 - Oficina 401, Cercado de Lima, E-mail: dmsgc@munlima.gob.pe
• Dirección Municipal de Fiscalización y Control, E-mail: dfc@munlima.gob.pe

Please also write to the embassies of Peru in your respective country.

Geneva, 9 May 2008

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.