Peru president proposes reparation plan for victims of human rights abuses

[Judi Lynn]

Peru president proposes reparation plan for victims of human rights abuses

DREW BENSON, Associated Press Writer Friday, November 21, 2003


(11-21) 23:52 PST LIMA, Peru (AP) --

Peru's president apologized for the 70,000 deaths from the country's 20-year battle with the Shining Path insurgency, and promised to punish officers that a scathing report blamed for many of the worst abuses.

Alejandro Toledo announced the government would spend $800 million in the next 21/2 years on public works in the areas hurt most by the fighting, from 1980-2000. But he didn't offer individual reparations that victims and human rights groups had sought.

The apology -- Toledo's first about the insurgency -- came three months after the government-appointed Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued a nine-volume report that said 70,000 people had died, and that military officers responsible for many of those deaths committed massive human rights abuses. (snip)

(snip) The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report said the conflict was exacerbated by deep racism and a misunderstanding of the highland Indians who comprised most of the victims. (snip/...)

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