AI Index : AMR 46/003/2006
Further Information on UA 07/06 (AMR 46/001/2006, 9 January 2006)
Fear for safety
PERU : Iscra Chavez Loaiza (f), Director of human rights organization APORVIDHA
Freddy Rodriguez Olivera (m), APORVIDHA lawyer
Evelyn Zevallos Enriquez (m), APORVIDHA lawyer
Other APORVIDHA staff
24 January 2006
The Peruvian Minister of the Interior has reportedly instructed police in the southern department of Cuzco to investigate the threats against the human rights organization Asociacion por la Vida y la Dignidad Humana (APORVIDHA), Association for Life and Human Dignity. Amnesty International believes that the lives of APORVIDHA staff are no longer in imminent danger.
APORVIDHA is currently providing legal representation to victims of human rights violations committed during the internal armed conflict of 1980-2000, and their relatives. APORVIDHA’s director, Iscra Chavez Loaiza, and two of the organization’s lawyers, Freddy Rodriguez Olivera and Evelyn Zevallos Enriquez, received threatening messages in early December, apparently in connection with their human rights work. It appears that Amnesty International’s campaigning on this case led directly to the opening of the police investigation into the threats : in his communication with the police ordering the investigation, Interior Minister Dr. Romulo Pizarro Tomasio stated that he was taking this action at the request of Amnesty International.
APORVIDHA has thanked Amnesty International for the UA issued on its behalf, saying, "Your support helps to strengthen the work of human rights defenders and makes us even more committed to continuing our work." (El apoyo de Amnistia Internacional contribuye a fortalecer el trabajo de todos/as los/as defensores/as de derechos humanos y nos compromete aun mas en su defensa).
No further action is required at present. Many thanks to all who sent appeals.