The First Supraprovincial Prosecutor’s Office Specializing in Human Rights in Junín requested 18 months of pretrial detention for eight members of the Peruvian Army’s 31st Special Commando Company, who are being investigated for aggravated homicide and attempted aggravated homicide following the death of five civilians and injuries to three survivors during an operation on April 25 in the Huancavelica region, according to a statement from the prosecutor’s office on Monday.

The charged soldiers include Captain Luis Joel Montenegro Pardo (the operation leader), Brayan Antony Fernández Dett, Douglas Villacorta Saboya, Hedilberto Edis Marcos Guerra, Andy Jesús Sánchez Ríos, Jorge Luis Aguilar García, Américo Carlos Vásquez Rojas, and Fernando Córdova Mariano.

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The prosecution alleges that the soldiers engaged in disproportionate and lethal use of force constituting serious human rights violations, contradicting the Vraem Special Command’s initial claim of an armed confrontation with hostile elements.

The incident occurred on the Colcabamba-Ayacucho highway in the Tayacaja province, within the VRAEM (Valley of the Apurímac, Ene, and Mantaro Rivers). A truck carrying at least seven people was shot up by soldiers during an intervention for alleged drug trafficking. Soldiers claimed they fired because the vehicle did not stop and because passengers started a shootout, but preliminary judicial investigations found no weapons or drugs in the damaged truck.

The Tayacaja Corporate Criminal Provincial Prosecutor’s Office opened a preliminary investigation that also includes three civilians. Forensic ballistic and atomic absorption tests on the soldiers, seizure of their cell phones, expert examination of the vehicle, and statements from the involved and survivors have been ordered. The eight soldiers were initially detained, then released under summons pending pretrial detention decisions.

Peruvian National Police commander general Óscar Arriola reported that among the five deceased was a Colombian citizen who entered the country irregularly and had an international record for arms trafficking. The VRAEM is a mountainous jungle region where drug trafficking produces more than half of Peru’s cocaine exports, along with remnants of the Shining Path insurgency.

International human rights organizations urged an investigation into the arbitrary use of force, warning that stigmatizing victims violates the presumption of innocence, while Peru’s National Human Rights Coordinator demanded an immediate, independent investigation and effective sanctions against those responsible.

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