Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard, third-right, stands next to Raul Samillan, centre, President of the Association of Martyrs and Victims of January 9 in Juliaca, Peru, and victims' relatives in Lima on May 25, 2023.CRIS BOURONCLE/AFP/Getty Images
International human-rights group Amnesty International is pressing Canada to ban exports of military goods to Peru, saying Lima’s lethal repression of mass protests in 2022 and 2023 are evidence that Ottawa risks enabling further human-rights violations if it doesn’t act.
About 50 Peruvians and a police officer were killed, and more than 1,000 injured, in anti-government protests after Pedro Castillo was ousted as president, and arrested, in December, 2022. Mr. Castillo had attempted to dissolve Peru’s Congress before an impeachment vote targeting him.
His ouster fired up anger against the elite, especially in poor rural Andean regions in Peru’s south, which had propelled Mr. Castillo, a leftist former teacher and political novice, to the presidency in 2021. The protests lasted for months.
Amnesty released a report Thursday – called Who called the shots? Chain of command responsibility for killings and injuries in protests in Peru – that analyzed the liability of military and civilian leaders for what happened, including Dina Boluarte, who was sworn in as Peru’s next president after Mr. Castillo’s arrest.
“Peru’s president, ministers, police and army commanders made decisions that ultimately had lethal consequences. Hundreds of victims and survivors are waiting for answers about what top-ranking officials knew, or should have known, and what they failed to do to stop the killings,” Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International, said in a statement Thursday.
David Matsinhe, director of policy, advocacy and research for Amnesty International Canada’s English-speaking section, said Canada can’t look the other way when it comes to exports of military equipment to Peru.
Under the global Arms Trade Treaty, of which Canada is a signatory, the Canadian government must not authorize arms exports if they could be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international human-rights law, and such risks cannot be mitigated.
“That is clear evidence that Canada has been violating its national and international obligations,” he said of the new Amnesty report.
Canada exported more than $1.8-million of military goods to Peru in 2023, according to the Department of Global Affairs. The department doesn’t tell Canadians precisely what is being exported but it says the category of shipment was “equipment for military training,” or “for simulating military scenarios,” or “simulators specially designed for training” on firearms or other weapons. Shipments in 2022 exceeded $560,000 in category that includes aircraft and drones, the department’s annual report said.
The Canadian government did not directly answer a question when asked why it still allows military exports to Peru.
“Canada continues to closely follow progress on investigations into alleged serious human-rights abuses that occurred between December, 2022, and March, 2023, and engage regularly with the government of Peru and civil society partners, including Indigenous groups,” Global Affairs spokesman John Babcock said in an e-mailed statement.
He said all permit applications for exports of controlled items – such as military goods – are “reviewed on a case-by-case basis” to ensure they comply with the Arms Trade Treaty and the Exports and Import Permits Act.
Mr. Babcock said Canada would not allow such exports if “there is a substantial risk that they could be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international human-rights law.”
Amnesty said its report shows how Ms. Boluarte is responsible for what happened.
“Although President Boluarte denied under oath to prosecutors that she had direct contact with commanders and downplayed her role in the state repression, the report shows that, over the three months that protests took place around the country, she met several times with the heads of the armed forces and the police, giving her multiple opportunities to condemn the widespread unlawful use of force and order a change of tactics on the ground,” the group said in a statement.
“Yet, instead of using her frequent meetings with ministers, police and military commanders to this end, she continued publicly praising the security forces while vilifying protestors as “terrorists” and “criminals,” without providing evidence to that effect. In addition, rather than calling her subordinates to account, she took the decision to promote key officials to higher positions, even though they had directly overseen police and military operations that resulted in multiple deaths.”
The Peruvian embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Amnesty’s call for Canada to end arms sales to the South American country.
With a report from Reuters