The La Cantuta Crime. The Disappearance and Death of a Teacher and Nine Students That Shook the Country

One afternoon in 1992, a document from the Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos (APRODEH) came into my hands, reporting the disappearance of a professor and nine students from the Universidad de Educación de La Cantuta. It was one of countless notes arriving at the newspaper "La República." At first glance, it was strange that, despite the significance of the event, the case did not merit the attention of government authorities or political sectors. The case also did not receive the journalistic follow-up it deserved, despite being the most important abduction to have taken place in the capital of the country. Those were months when disappearances were commonplace news; we Peruvians were caught up in the vortex of violence. After that afternoon, I lost track of the case — I only remember that someone told me the missing persons were suspected of having ties to Sendero Luminoso. Investigations by journalists, parliamentarians, and discontented military officers shed light on the actions of a clandestine group operating under the protection of the Servicio de Inteligencia Nacional (SIN), an organization led by President Fujimori's advisor, former Captain Vladimiro Montesinos. Despite evidence pointing to the responsibility of senior SIN and Army commanders, they were never brought to trial. My work as a journalist allowed me to follow closely the developments of the investigation as well as the multiple efforts undertaken by the families to find out the whereabouts of their loved ones. (Excerpt from the introduction).