Peru has been experiencing intense social mobilization since last December and its repression by the security forces has resulted in the death of around fifty civilians so far. While parts of the south of the country remain blocked, the reaction of the Peruvian state demonstrates its difficulties in respecting democratic practices and guaranteeing human rights.
The mobilizations emerged in support of the now deposed president, Pedro Castillo, from the far left party Free Peru. Faced with a third impeachment attempt by a hostile parliament with several seats held by the authoritarian right, Castillo attempted a “self-coup” by decreeing the dissolution of parliament without constitutional justification. The coup was aborted due to a lack of military and political support, and the president was remanded in custody for rebellion and conspiracy. The vice-president, Dina Boluarte, has since served as president.
Mobilizations in support of the ousted president were harshly repressed by the police and the army, notably in Ayacucho and Juliaca in the Andean region, killing around thirty people. In this context of violence, fueled by racism on the part of certain state actors against indigenous Quechua and Aymara demonstrators, the demonstrations escalated in January and February. Castillo’s support comes mainly from the Andean region and from working-class and rural backgrounds. Most of the country was blocked by road occupations; the marchers reached Lima, the capital, where they marched for several days.
The democratic malaise is not new. Since 2016, the constant clashes between the executive and the legislature have resulted in an undermining of the principle specific to democratic systems of the separation of powers. Parliamentarians from both left and right have maneuvered to impeach the presidents, and control the Constitutional Court, the Public Protector and the national election jury. The country has thus seen three successive parliaments and six presidents in six years. The executive and the legislature have also been the subject of repeated corruption scandals. Then president, Pedro Castillo faced no less than six corruption investigations.
These practices have contributed to the discredit of Parliament, which suffers from a disapproval rate as high as 91%. President Dina Boluarte is disapproved of by 78% of citizens. While these actors are held responsible for the deaths of civilians by the protesters, they demand the calling of new elections, a claim supported by more than 80% of public opinion. The parliamentarians remain unmoved and refuse this request, which would however be a way out of the temporary crisis worthy of interest.
Human rights at risk
The Peruvian state’s inability to find a democratic way out of the crisis has resulted in violence that has claimed the lives of 49 civilians so far, according to the Public Protector. The Ministry of Health has identified more than 1,330 injured. Autopsies have revealed that most of the deaths were caused by projectiles from firearms, and videos of the scenes of the clash confirm that the shots were fired by law enforcement.
The crisis is also reflected in the jeopardizing of freedoms, in particular of demonstration (indiscriminate use of tear gas by the police on peaceful demonstrators), of expression (impunity for attacks and harassment of journalists), of association or meeting (arbitrary searches and arrests by the security forces within the premises of left-wing political organizations and university bodies).
Concerns about the excessive use of force by law enforcement have also flared up on the national and international scene; the European Union, the United States and most Latin American countries have made their criticisms and concerns public. The demonstrators and relatives of the disappeared are demanding that the truth be revealed and that those responsible be tried.
For its part, the government of Dina Boluarte absolves itself of any political responsibility; sometimes by denying the assassinations, by affirming for example that the demonstrators killed each other; sometimes by criminalizing the demonstrations by saying they are financed by drug trafficking. The government says it did not give the order to shoot the police on the days the deaths occurred. However, the police and the army remain under the authority of the executive.
In Lima, the parliamentarians, like the government which has presented its roadmap for the coming months, signal that they could remain in power until the end of their mandate, in 2026. Deaf to the demands of a strong majority of Peruvians, the position of the rulers reflects an extreme crisis of representation and seems difficult to sustain from a perspective of the rule of law.