Bolivia’s 2019 Coup Rulers Face Another Lawsuit in Geneva

In the framework of the 72nd Session of the United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT) in Geneva, the "Pro Human Rights Bolivia" Organization President Nadesha Guevara and Ayben Huaranca, a victim of the Senkata massacre, filed a complaint against former De facto President Jeanine Añez (2019-2020) and ex-Interior Minister Arturo Murillo.

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The complaint seeks to promote investigations to identify the perpetrators and masterminds of the acts of violence and torture during the Senkata, Sacaba, Pedregal massacres, and other human rights violations. 

CAT rapporteur Rodrigo Jimenez described Huaranca's case as an example of torture since it met all the elements of human rights violations, including illegal detention.

Guevara noted that CAT recommendations urged combating hatred, racism, discrimination discourse promoted by 2019 coup supporters. 

"I am the health personnel who supported in critical moments when the police and military began to shoot civilians in Senkata," Huaranca declared during an interview early this year.

"I was a person who helped many of the wounded who fell. It was sad to remember how many wounded people I helped and how many dead I saw. There was no will of the police to say enough. They were shooting without fear," he lamented. 

Huaranca was accused of terrorism, sedition, and public instigation to commit crime charges, even if there was no legal basis for the accusations.