RETABLO. MURDER OF CHILDREN IN HUERTAHUAYCCO

Murder of children in Huertahuaycco Year: 2007 Dimensions: Open: 29.5 x 67 x 13.5 cm / Closed: 29.5 x 34 x 13.5 The retablo, without exterior decoration, shows scenes unfolding beneath a blood-reddened sky. During a "retreat" into the mountains directed by Sendero Luminoso "commanders," they feared that the children's crying would lead the military to find them. They could force adults to fear and suffer in silence under the difficult circumstances, but not the children. The Shining Path members decided to kill the children, forcing their mothers to kill them under threat of death and, ultimately, murdering them themselves. This is the situation portrayed in the retablo. On the left, on a high hill, two Shining Path "commanders" are watching and observing. Further below we see how children are torn from their mothers' arms and hanged. Male and female Shining Path members shout and threaten the women who, in helplessness, terror, and anguish, watch their children being killed without mercy. The sky is reddened and dark despite it being daytime in the retablo. The doors have written on them the testimonies of this terrible event, collected by Edilberto Jiménez in Chungui. In the context of violence, no restraint was shown in cruelty and abuses that made many children innocent victims. The CVR reported around 2,952 crimes and violations—by the PCP-Sendero Luminoso, state agents, and the MRTA—that brazenly and cold-bloodedly trampled on the rights of boys and girls.