The Putis Massacre was a
massacre
A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...
of 123
campesinos carried out by the
Peruvian Army in a rural hamlet in the
Santillana District
Santillana District is one of eight districts of the Huanta Province in Peru.
Geography
One of the highest peaks of the district is Quri Willka at approximately . Other mountains are listed below:
Ethnic groups
The people in the district ar ...
of the
Huanta Province
Huanta Province is the northernmost of the eleven provinces in the Ayacucho region in Peru. The capital of the Huanta province is the city of Huanta.
History
In the colonial era, Huanta province was larger than it is currently, with traditional ...
in the
Ayacucho Region
Ayacucho () is a department and region of Peru, located in the south-central Andes of the country. Its capital is the city of Ayacucho. The region was one of the hardest hit in the 1980s during the guerrilla war waged by Shining Path known as ...
of
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
. The massacre occurred in December 1984.
Background
According to a 2003 report by the
Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the guerrilla group
Shining Path
The Shining Path ( es, Sendero Luminoso), officially the Communist Party of Peru (, abbr. PCP), is a communist Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla group in Peru following Marxism–Leninism–Maoism and Gonzalo Thought. Academics often refer to the gro ...
was very active in the Huanta Province since the start of the
Internal conflict in Peru in 1980. During 1983, Shining Path murdered the lieutenant governor of Putis, Santos Quispe Saavedra and carried out similar acts of violence in nearby towns; as a consequence, the inhabitants of Putis were forced to seek refuge in the nearby mountains.
To parry this threat, the
Peruvian Army established a military base in Putis in November 1984 and called on all refugees to return to the town.
Massacre
By December 1984, most of the population had returned to the Putis settlement. The military ordered the men of the community to dig a pit, then gathered the local population around it, executed all of them with gunfire and buried them in the excavated pit. It is believed that the reasons for these executions were suspicions that the inhabitants of Putis were sympathetic to Shining Path and a desire to steal and sell the cattle of the community.
The total number of victims is estimated at 123 men and women from the settlements of Cayramayo, Vizcatánpata, Orccohuasi and Putis; 19 of those murdered were minors. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission identified two mass graves in Putis, one behind the church and the other inside the school. Some persons from Putis survived the massacre by staying in the mountains, where they remained until a few of them returned in 1997; as of 2002 some ten families lived in Putis.
Investigation
In May 2008, a group of
forensic investigators
''Forensic Investigators: Australia's True Crimes'' is an Australian television show hosted by Lisa McCune which aired on the Seven Network. It aired for three seasons from 2004 to 2006.
Focusing on actual Australian crimes, each episode unf ...
began the exhumation of the Putis mass graves belatedly following a 2003 recommendation by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate all such massacre sites. Around 50 relatives of the persons killed joined the investigators to watch the recovery of their family members remains. Despite the exhumation procedures, no one has been indicted so far for the Putis massacre as the Peruvian Military refuses to give any explanation about the events, claiming all related documentation was destroyed in a fire.
In August 2009, a mass funeral was held for ninety-two victims of the 1984 massacre. The remains of only twenty-eight were identified through the use of DNA and many of the coffins contained only partial remains.
See also
*
List of massacres in Peru
Notes
References
* BBC News
Peru recovers mass grave bodies May 26, 2008.
* BBC News
Peruvians seek relatives in mass grave June 12, 2008.
* Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación. . Lima: CVR, 2003.
* Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática
Banco de Información Digital
* Reuters
Years after slaughter, Peru opens giant burial pit May 29, 2008.
{{Coord, 12, 34, 44, S, 74, 13, 44, W, region:PE_type:city, display=title
1984 in Peru
Massacres in 1984
Enforced disappearance
Anti-communist terrorism
Internal conflict in Peru
Massacres in Peru
Political repression in Peru
History of Ayacucho Region
1984 murders in Peru