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Hostage standoff in Peru continues
MRTA intent on freeing comrades from prison
January 3, 1997
Web posted at: 9:30 p.m. EST
(0230 GMT)From Correspondent Lucia Newman
LIMA, Peru (CNN) -- There were no signs Friday of any movement towards resolving the standoff in Peru, where 74 people remained hostages inside the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima for the 18th day.
Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori remained firm on his position that he would not give in to the demands of the Tupac Amaru rebels, who want hundreds of their imprisoned comrades to be freed from prison.
While most Peruvians support Fujimori's refusal to give in to blackmail, there is a growing controversy over the conditions in the prisons and the fairness of the country's justice system.
Journalists speak out
The rebels and other Peruvians say that prison conditions in their country need to be improved.
In an interview with CNN, journalists Rosa Alvarez and her husband Jose Antonio Alvarez discussed their recent imprisonment for crimes they say they didn't commit. They were sentenced by a military tribunal for being "apologists for terrorism," a charge often used against people with leftist views.
Rosa Alvarez spent a year in a high-security prison until her conviction was overturned. While she was there, her daughter Maria was born. The daughter has suffered seizures since birth, which her mother says were caused by the lack of medical attention during her pregnancy.
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Jose Antonio Alvarez spent four and a half years in prison, a sentence that ended three months ago with a presidential pardon.
"You are in your dark cell 23 1/2 hours a day," he said. "You can only go into the yard, into daylight, for half an hour. The prisoners are always sick; many die of tuberculosis."
Groups say 1,700 falsely imprisoned in Peru
According to human rights organizations, Peru's prisons hold at least 1,700 people falsely accused of crimes in terrorism. They get one meal a day and share a bed -- a concrete slab -- with several others. For months, they are denied any contact with the outside world, their families, or even their attorneys.
"I saw with sorrow how people, who when I entered were well, ended up losing their minds," said Rosa Alvarez. "They wanted to hang themselves, they looked for anything to kill themselves."
Peruvian authorities say their harsh laws and prison conditions are a deterrent against subversion.
That may be so, says Susana Villaran, executive secretary of the Human Rights National Coordination Committee, but that doesn't mean they are appropriate. Villaran said that the United Nations and Organization of American States experts have found Peru's terrorist legislation to be the most drastic in the world.
"It is the one that most limits people's rights and least guarantees due process," she said.
Rebel leader reportedly held in 'coffin'
Fujimori admitted six weeks ago to CNN that "In the fight against terrorism in Peru, errors have been committed. We recognize that and we've been trying to correct it, especially with regards to unjust detentions committed by military tribunals or the judicial system."
While conditions are harsh for those jailed for terrorism, they are even worse for rebel leaders like Victor Polay, who has been in solitary confinement for almost three years.
"My son is living in a coffin, two square meters with a latrine," said his mother, Otilia de Polay. "No running water, a cement bed and with only the light that comes in at times from a slit in the ceiling."
It was to free Polay and others like him that the Tupac Amaru rebels say they seized the Japanese ambassador's residence. They repeated Friday that nothing less than the release of their comrades would convince them to release their hostages.
Related stories:
- Fujimori names replacements for leaders held hostage - January 2, 1997
- Seven hostages released from Peru diplomatic compound - January 1, 1997
- Peruvian rebels repeat demand that comrades be freed - December 31, 1996
- Both sides appear to soften stance in Peruvian standoff - December 30, 1996
- Peruvians hopeful after direct talks with rebels - December 29, 1996
Related sites:
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- Human Rights Reference Site
- The MRTA Solidarity Page by Arm the Spirit
- Voz Rebelde Internacional -- the official page of the MRTA in Europe (in Spanish)
- Internet Network of Peru
- Peru Home Page (in Spanish)
- Hemisferio Sur (in Spanish) - links to "Caretas" magazine, and "La Republica" and "Expreso" newspapers
- Peru Info Internet
- International Committee of the Red Cross
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.
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