PERUVIAN COURT SENTENCES RETIRED SOLDIERS TO PRISON IN CONNECTION WITH RAPING RURAL WOMEN, GIRLS IN 1980s

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Ten retired soldiers were sentenced to up to 12 years in jail by a Peruvian court on Wednesday for sexually assaulting nine rural women and girls during the 1980s while the army was battling Maoist militants from the Shining Path.

Five years of proceedings in the first case involving sexual offenses perpetrated by soldiers in the South American nation came to a conclusion with the sentencing. These men had previously been found guilty in previous proceedings.

The males, who were not present in court, were given prison terms ranging from six to twelve years by Judge René Eduardo Martinez.

The case began in Huancavelica, one of the poorest districts of Peru, in 1984, when the army established a camp close to the Andean towns of Manta and Vilca.

Many of the victims were minors when they were raped, and five became pregnant as a result, their lawyers told the court.

“These have been 40 long years of struggle,” a victim identified only as Maria said in a voice message sent by her lawyer to AFP.

Maria, now 54, has two children that were the product of rape.

“Hopefully … these criminals will now go to prison,” she said.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Peru claims that hundreds of incidents of forced abortions, prostitution, rape, and sexual slavery occurred during the nation’s conflict between the Shining Path and governmental forces between 1980 and 2000.

According to the committee, violations occurred on both sides of Peru’s internal conflict, resulting in almost 69,000 deaths or disappearances.

AFP