Investigation of army commandos for murder opens old wounds, divides Peru

June 6, 2002

LIMA, Peru - When army commandos stormed the Japanese ambassador's residence and rescued 72 hostages from their rebel captors, they made instant heroes of themselves and their president, Alberto Fujimori.

Five years later, in a stunning turnaround that has plunged Peru into uproar, prosecutor Richard Saavedra has filed homicide charges against 18 army officers for allegedly executing three rebels after they surrendered.

The case is a major test of Peru's handling of human rights issues as it rebuilds its democracy following Fujimori's decade of authoritarian rule, which ended in his ouster and exile.

The military has strongly denied the charges. Long accustomed to impunity, it is outraged at the indictments, and so are many Peruvians, who say the rebels got what they deserved.

Jose Barba Caballero, a congressman pushing for an amnesty for the commandos even before they go to trial, says they may have committed "crimes in the heat of battle."

But if any are convicted, he warned, "that would mean that yesterday's criminals turn into today's heroes and the heroes into criminals."

Maria Fernandez's eyes fill with tears as she remembers how her rebel son died at the hands of the army commandos.

Roli Rojas had gunshot wounds in the chest, a leg and a hand and "a bullet hole here," Fernandez says, pointing to the back of her neck.

She is convinced her son, a rebel lieutenant, tried to surrender along with other guerrillas but was killed execution-style after being wounded.

All 14 rebels of the pro-Cuban Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement were killed when 140 commandos swarmed over walls and out of tunnels to free the hostages. Two commandos also were killed and one of the hostages died from a gunshot wound after being rescued.

"I think the commandos did their job. They did the best they could and they risked their lives for us," said Luis Giampietri, who was a navy admiral while held hostage and is now retired. "It was one of the few things Peruvians felt pride in during these years and it has been stained by the accusations."

Prosecutor Saavedra also charged ex-spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos with murder, and Attorney General Nelly Calderon said she would open an investigation into Fujimori's "presumed responsibility" for the rebels' deaths.

Fernandez and relatives of other slain rebels have long contended that at least some of the rebels were killed after being wounded or surrendering. But until Fujimori's regime collapsed in a corruption scandal in November 2000, few took notice of their complaints.

"Do you think that if Fujimori were still president, this would have been possible? We had to wait until the dictator was gone and a democratic breeze was blowing to denounce this," said Edison Rojas, 39, Roli's twin brother.

The military maintained all 14 guerrillas were killed in initial bomb blasts and the ensuing firefight.

But a forensic report released last month showed eight of the bodies had execution-style shots to the base of the neck. Seven of these had other bullet wounds, but the eighth had only the neck wound.

Gen. Jose Williams, who helped train the commandos, said in a TV interview that his men had been instructed to aim for the head, fire three shots, then close in on the target and fire again. He said this was to insure that no rebel could toss a grenade or otherwise harm the hostages or soldiers in the smoke-filled residence.

Several commandos interviewed anonymously in Peruvian media have said their training did not entertain the possibility of rebels surrendering and that was why they didn't even carry handcuffs.

A Japanese diplomat who was among the hostages has said he saw three guerrillas alive and detained after the fighting ended, including the rebel who later turned up dead with the single bullet wound in the neck.

Two policemen have said they captured a rebel trying to escape through a tunnel and turned him over to a commando who took him back to the ambassador's residence. He was the one with a single bullet wound.

The Rev. Juan Julio Wicht, a Catholic priest who was a hostage, said he was outraged by the accusations against the commandos.

"They are people who deserve all my respect and gratitude because, thanks to them, to their heroism, 71 of the 72 hostages are alive, and I think all of my companions in captivity share those feelings."

But human rights groups have insisted on an investigation.

The raid "may have been militarily successful and the soldiers who risked their lives in it heroes," said Hans Landolt, a Peruvian human rights activist. "But no way are they good military men if they follow illegal orders nor are they heroes if, once the military operation ends, they execute in cold blood their prisoners."

Most Peruvians apparently do not agree. A public opinion poll showed 56 percent believe the accusations of illegal executions are true, but 60 percent support an amnesty for the commandos. The poll of 573 people had a 5 percent margin of error.

The relatives and human rights groups hope the investigation will lead to Fujimori.

"We believe that there is a chain of command here and that it begins with Alberto Fujimori," said Gloria Cano, a human rights lawyer representing Fernandez.

Fujimori boasted of having personally planned the rescue operation. After it ended, he donned a bulletproof vest and strode triumphantly among the slain guerrillas.

He now lives in Japan, his ancestral homeland, beyond the reach of Peruvian authorities.

Above a frayed couch in Maria Fernandez's home in a poor Lima neighborhood hangs a large photo of her son Roli at age 18.

"They should have let him live and turned him over to the courts to be judged. They could have imprisoned him anywhere and I could have visited him, hugged him, talked with him," she said. "For me, as a mother, it hurts because it is a wound that is never going to heal. As a mother, I ask that justice be done, that all the truth come out, nothing more."

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