Peru’s top prosecutor said on Tuesday it had opened an inquiry into new president Dina Boluarte and members of her cabinet over violent clashes that have left at least 40 dead and hundreds injured since early December.
The inquiry comes after 17 civilians were killed in the country’s southern Puno region on Monday – the deadliest day of protests since former President Pedro Castillo was ousted and detained last month.
The violence continued on Tuesday, with one police officer dying after his car was set on fire.
The attorney general’s office said it was investigating Boluarte, Alberto Otarola, the resigned prime minister, Jorge Chávez, defense minister, and Victor Rojas, interior minister, on charges of “genocide, aggravated homicide and serious injuries.”
Human rights groups accused authorities of using firearms against protesters and dropping smoke bombs from helicopters. The army says protesters used weapons and homemade explosives.
The attorney general’s office also said it would investigate former prime minister Pedro Angulo and former interior minister César Cervantes, both under Boluarte’s command for just a few weeks, for their involvement in the conduct of the protests.
The offices of the president and ministers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Castillo’s ouster, which came after he illegally tried to dissolve Congress, sparked a wave of protests across the country.
Protesters demand Boluarte’s resignation, the dissolution of Congress, changes to the constitution and Castillo’s release.
The vote of confidence, a constitutional requirement after a new prime minister takes office, was approved with 73 votes in favour, 43 against and 6 abstentions.
Otarola blamed organized attackers financed by “dark” money for those killed on Monday (9). Another 68 civilians and 75 police officers were injured.
He also announced a three-day night curfew in Puno, aimed at curbing the violence.
Local media footage showed looting of businesses late on Monday, while the airport in the nearby town of Juliaca remained closed on Tuesday after 9,000 people reportedly tried to storm the site.
Peru’s ombudsman called for peaceful protests, as well as for prosecutors to fully investigate the deaths.
The office noted the “extreme violence” of the officer’s death, claiming he was tortured before he died.
The officer, identified as José Luis Soncco, died in a burning vehicle after what police commander Raul Alfaro called an “ambush” by a crowd in Juliaca.
“They burned him alive,” Alfaro said.
The ombudsman also condemned an arson attack on the residence of a congressman from Puno, in the city of Ilave, with family members still inside and asked the authorities to respect international norms on the use of force.
Castillo posted on Twitter on Tuesday that those killed for “defending the country from the coup dictatorship” will never be forgotten.
He has been ordered to remain in pre-trial detention while he is investigated for fomenting rebellion, a charge he denies.
The former rural professor, who served less than two years of his five-year term before being ousted, says he remains Peru’s legal president.
Castillo’s ally Evo Morales, the former Bolivian president who was banned from entering Peru on Monday, has also called for an end to what he says is the “genocide of our indigenous brothers.”
Later this week, a mission from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will visit Peru to assess the situation, and the United Nations has called for respect for human rights and offered to mediate in the crisis.
Source: CNN Brasil
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