Bolivia To Repair The Relatives Of Senkata & Sacaba Victims

On Monday, Bolivia’s Justice Minister Ivan Lima met with the relatives of the Senkata and Sacaba massacres’ victims, who requested him to approve 13 reparation actions that include giving them financial compensation for the crimes and speeding the prosecution of perpetrators.

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"It is necessary to repair these people, who suffered military violence during the Jeanine Añez's dictatorship (2019-2020)," Lima said, recalling that former Ministers Arturo Murillo and Julio Lopez remain fugitive from Justice.

Twenty relatives of the Senkata massacre's victims had threatened to start a hunger strike on Monday if this meeting did not take place. "We recognize the efforts of the government to condemn the crimes against humanity of the dictatorship. However, we also stressed that justice is delayed... We need concrete and urgent actions," they stressed.

"We had to summon the Minister because he is the officer with the most capacity for decision," human rights activist David Inca warned and urged Lima to fulfill the commitments he will assume at the dialogue.

Upon Añez seized power in Nov. 2019, citizens from Senkata y Sacaba took to the streets to reject the coup d’etat against re-elected President Evo Morales. Although the demonstrations were pacific, the Armed Forces and the Police killed ten citizens and injured 78 people who took part in them.

The officers denied the use of lethal weapons to intimidate citizens. However, evidence gathered by the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) indicated that gunfire originated from their troops, whose violent actions were biased against social leaders and Indigenous peoples.

"The damage is already done. The perpetrators' imprisonment is not going to return us to our loved ones, but will at least make them pay for what they have done and prevent crimes like these from recurring in our society," the Association of Deceased Relatives President Gloria Quisberth stated.