Complete database of events related to the internal armed conflict in Peru, extracted from the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CVR). 5,159 events documented from 1817 to 2003.
Between June and July 1994, the Shining Path PCP killed around seventy natives of the Quenteroni community. The victims were people the subversives considered useless for work or for the war, including children, the sick and the elderly. This act of extreme violence occurred in the context of the war …
A column of approximately 200 Shining Path elements attacked eight colonist camps in the province of Satipo. They killed more than 55 people, including natives and settlers, and cut off the ears of 14 children. This massive attack exemplifies the brutality of the Shining Path against civilian populations, including the …
Shining Path forcibly recruited 24 students between 10 and 12 years of age. The children were subjected to strict rules: they could only eat when ordered to do so by the Shining Path members, otherwise they were killed for breaking the rules. Methods of execution included tying hands, hanging and …
On March 19, 1992, about thirty villagers fleeing from the Alto Cuchara hamlet because of the bombings encountered a military patrol near Pozo Rico. The military separated the women and children and executed them with gunfire, first the men, then the women and finally the children. After a month, Benito …
Wilmer, a 3-year-old boy, witnessed the murder of his parents by the Shining Path. They threw a machete at his mother's belly and there was a lot of blood, and they put a bullet in his father's head. The boy wanted them to get up but they wouldn't talk to …
Shining Path attacked Sonomoro in the afternoon. A female terrorist captured a family and doused them with gasoline, then set fire to the car and people. Esmeralda Carhuamaca Romero, 10 years old, ran out with fire on her back and managed to put it out by throwing herself on the …
One month before the 1990 general elections, the Shining Path barbarically attacked the district of Iguaín. The subversives mutilated the hands of peasants, among them children, with the intention of causing terror in the population so that they would not go to vote. At the hacienda, an armed group dressed …
In the Shining Path camps, when people arrived from different sides, they would form and separate them into groups of 10. At the age of 11 or 12, the children were separated from their parents and from the 'masses' to join the future combat group. A 14-year-old girl recounts: 'When …
At approximately 4:00 a.m., Shining Path terrorists had almost finished killing all the inhabitants of one community, including small children and infants. The terrorists commented: 'only the intelligent ones will be left here, and those who are not, will die'. They proceeded to interrogate the surviving children about their knowledge. …
A boy of about 10 years old was kidnapped by the MRTA. There were minors even younger than him. The subversives said that it is better to be a minor than an adult. That day they had taken 4, 5 or 6 children. They used them for spying. They trained …
When approximately 10 Ashaninka tried to escape from Shining Path captivity, the subversives began to kill all the Ashaninka in the group. They took them under false pretenses, telling them they would live alone and happy, but they killed them with axes, machetes and knives. The children also had their …
In Shining Path camps, children studied and worked from the age of 7, picking rice and working according to their ability. From the age of 12 they took up arms. They studied pure Shining Path politics with a teacher every day. They were taught to make weapons out of sticks …
In a Shining Path camp, a watchman punished the young son of one of the declarants with chicote (pieces of thick vines) because, due to his hunger, he had eaten 5 bananas without asking permission. The punishment was applied in front of everyone as a lesson for the rest. This …
A mother says that the Shining Path killed her 9 children during captivity. The children got sick because they did not eat well, everything was measured and in small portions, without salt or oil, only nettle and other herbs. When the hikers ordered a 'retreat', the children who could not …
During 1989, the Communist Party of Peru - Shining Path (PCP-SL) significantly intensified the recruitment of youth and children in the province of Satipo. This recruitment campaign was carried out both in the cities and in rural areas near the highway. Forced recruitment was part of the PCP-SL's strategy to …
A 13-year-old boy recounts his recruitment by the Shining Path in the Ashaninka community. He says 'when I was little I didn't know what life was like, I practically opened my eyes to it, I thought it was the truth'. From 5 to 10 years old, they were pioneers and …
Shining Path forcibly recruited a 13-year-old boy in the Puerto Nuevo Ashaninka Native Community. The boy tells how the subversives hanged and filleted with knives children who did not obey their mothers, cutting them to the heart to kill them and then bury them. This testimony shows the brutality of …
The Shining Path perpetrated a massacre in the public square of the Rumi-Rumi hamlet. Twenty-four peasants were killed, among them 14 adults and 10 children, gunned down for the crime of having organized civil defense patrols. Most of the victims were authorities and young people from the village. As a …
A minor of approximately 14 years of age got out of a car carrying a powerful explosive to detonate it at the residence of the Investigative Police. The device exploded surprisingly one meter away from the police premises. The package contained eight sticks of dynamite that had been ignited seconds …
During Shining Path retreats into the bush, they forced the captive population to move to different bases. After three days of walking, the hikers began to kill children and old people who could not continue, saying 'he who can, will arrive; and he who cannot, will stay where he is'. …
The Shining Path murdered villagers in Yanasraccay, including parents. The subversives justified the murder of children by arguing that when they grew up and realized what had happened, they could take revenge or seek justice. For this reason, they decided not to leave the children alive. This testimony reveals the …
The Shining Path perpetrated a massacre of almost all the inhabitants of the village of Chaupihuasi. Peasants were killed without distinction of age, including 14 adult peasants, 10 children and older pupils of 7 and 8 years old who died together with their teacher at the school. Only very young …
The Shining Path gathered children to take them to the bush at the point of beatings. When some of the children resisted, the terrorists grabbed one of them, beat him even more, and forced the other children to grab him tightly. In the presence of everyone, they cut off his …
An 8-year-old girl witnessed her parents and older siblings being beaten by the Shining Path. The children began to scream but out of fear they had to stay quiet. Many urinated and relieved themselves on their clothes. Despite the girl's pleas for mercy and compassion, they killed her mother and …
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