Transfer of bodies found in the Pucayacu mass graves

Transfer of the bodies found in the mass graves of Pucayacu, Huanta, on August 23, 1984. All showed signs of having been tortured before being executed on orders from Navy Captain Álvaro Artaza Adrianzén, known as "Comandante Camión," who was responsible in 1984 for the Counter-Subversive Base of the Naval Infantry garrisoned at the Municipal Stadium of Huanta. During his time at that military post, reports of disappearances in the area multiplied. It is presumed that those held at the stadium during the first days of August 1984 were killed and buried in the Pucayacu graves to prevent their discovery by a delegation, led by the Attorney General of the Nation, arriving in Huanta to investigate the disappearance of journalist Jaime Ayala. According to testimony gathered by the Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación, the former sports venue served as a clandestine center where detainees suspected of being Senderistas were tortured and killed. Artaza Adrianzén was prosecuted for the massacre of the fifty individuals whose remains were found in Pucayacu, the killing of six evangelists from the locality of Callqui, and the murder of journalist Jaime Ayala from Huanta, but was acquitted in the first two cases. An arrest warrant was issued only in connection with Ayala's death.