IACHR Files Application Before Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Case Concerning Peru About Deaths and Injuries Caused by Police Officers in 1992

December 29, 2023

Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) filed on July 23, 2023, an application before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in case 11,041, with regard to Peru. This case concerns deaths and injuries caused by police officers to members of the Challhuayaco community in February 1992.

On February 3, 1992, the peasant council in the Challhuayaco community, in the department of Ancash, arrested Román González Leyva and accused him of stealing cattle. Four days later, police officers entered the community and took him away.  

On February 8, several people in the community and several members of the peasant council went to the police station in the town of Chavón, where González Leyva was being held, to request that he be tried in keeping with peasant council practices. The police invited the leader of the community to enter the police station for talks. However, when he refused, police officers used tear gas and shot the crowd that had gathered, leaving five people dead and at least 22 injured.

In March 1992, the mixed public prosecutor's office in Huari province filed a complaint against six police officers over these events and proceedings were transferred to military and police courts. In December 2002, the High Council of Justice of Peru's National Police dismissed the case, arguing that these events had happened in the course of regular police actions. This decision was ratified in March 2003 by the Acting General Auditor of the Supreme Military Justice Council. In April 2003, the Supreme Military Justice Council issued a final judgment where it accepted as valid the decision made by the High Council of Justice. In August 2003, the Supreme Military Justice Council shelved the case.

In its Admissibility and Merits Report, the Commission said that the State had failed to provide a suitable explanation—based on an independent, impartial investigation conducted with due diligence—about the use of lethal force. While the State argued that there had been clashes and that various objects had been thrown at police officers, the evidence suggests that the use of lethal force did not merely seek to disperse the crowd. The Commission noted that the community's alleged escape following the shots did not justify the use of lethal force. The IACHR therefore found that the use of force had not sought legitimate ends and that it had been unnecessary and disproportionate, so the State is liable for violations of victims' rights to life and personal integrity.

The Commission further found that, by taking the case to military and police criminal courts, the State had violated the rights to a fair trial and to judicial protection, as well as the right to an impartial authority of competent jurisdiction. Since this case involves human rights violations—more specifically, violations of the rights to life and humane treatment—these events should not have been regarded as offences committed in the course of duty, so the relevant investigation should have been conducted by ordinary courts.

In this context, the Commission found that the Peruvian State was liable for violations of the rights held in Articles 4.1 (life), 5.1 (personal integrity), 8.1 (judicial guarantees), and 25.1 (judicial protection) of the American Convention on Human Rights, in keeping with the obligations held in Articles 1.1 and 2 of the same instrument, to the detriment of all victims identified in the Admissibility and Merits Report.

The Commission therefore recommended that the State adopt the following redress measures:

1. Provide comprehensive reparations—both material and immaterial—for all human rights violations, including financial compensation and other redress measures 
2. Provide any physical and mental healthcare necessary for the rehabilitation of surviving victims
3. Launch an investigation in ordinary criminal courts and conduct it in a diligent, effective, and timely fashion, with a view to shedding light on these events, identifying anyone who may have been responsible for them, and imposing the relevant punishment
4. Adopt non-recurrence mechanisms including the following: (i) training National Police officers on international standards concerning the use of force, including lethal force; (ii) ensuring that all cases involving human rights violations allegedly committed by National Police officers are handled by ordinary courts; and (iii) bracing investigative capacity in cases involving the use of lethal force, so that these capacities reflect the standards held in the report

A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect for and to defend human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 328/23

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