The Military Shot to Kill in Ayacucho: Forensic Anthropologists

On Tuesday, the Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team (EPAF) presented a report showing that the military shot with the intent to kill in at least 10 cases of citizens killed during protests against President Dina Boluarte.

RELATED:

Peru: Protesters Heading to Lima to Protest Against President

Speaking about a sample of corpses of people who died in the Ayacucho region, the EPAF anthropologist Carmen Rosa Cardoza indicated that six people died as a result of shots to the chest, three due to shots to the abdomen, and one as a result of a gunshot to the head.

The facts show the same pattern: the military intentionally shot deadly areas such as the head, thorax, and abdomen, which constitutes an indication of crimes against humanity.

When there is no such intention, gunshot wounds usually occur in the extremities, anthropologist Jose Pablo Baraybar explained.

The tweet reads: "This is a true popular epic. It is the appearance of that other Peruvianness. It is the popular Peru, the Peru of those who are below. They claim the right to build a homeland where they are not seen as garbage. Look, solidarity, courage, dignity."

Gloria Cano, a lawyer from the Association for Human Rights (APRODEH), pointed out that the Peruvian army is not trained to control crowds or use force proportionally. For this reason, the Ayacucho murders reveal that the intention was to shoot in vital areas.

She denounced that the Peruvian military also attacked citizens in Andahuaylas, in the department of Apurímac, where corpses were found with shots to the head, thorax, and neck.

Since Boluarte became president on Dec. 7, 2022, human rights defenders have registered the death of 47 citizens as a result of the repression of the massive demonstrations.