Police stormed this Saturday using tanks at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, in Lima, to evict protesters who had locked themselves in their facilities in an action that has resulted in at least 205 arrests and criticism from international organizations.
Peruvian senior prosecutor Alfonso Barrenechea, national coordinator of the Crime Prevention Prosecutor’s Offices, confirmed 205 people were arrested during the police intervention at the university campus, according to RPP radio station.
The detainees were later transferred to the headquarters of the Anti-Terrorism Directorate (Dircote) and the Criminal Investigation Directorate (DIRINCRI), both located in the Cercado de Lima. The Public Prosecutor’s Office has reported the arrest of three people for terrorism offenses.
The demonstrators, led by students, took over the university three days ago as part of the «Toma de Lima», as part of the protests against President Dina Boluarte, from whom they are demanding the resignation.
A police tank knocked down Gate 3 of the university and at first there were no confrontations, but a group of demonstrators threw stones at the officers. Dozens of demonstrators were immobilized and transferred in buses both on campus and in the university residence area.
The demonstrators have denounced the violence exercised by the agents and the absence of prosecutors to supervise the operation and provide guarantees.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called on the Peruvian authorities to guarantee the «legality and proportionality» of the intervention.
Meanwhile, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) has expressed its «concern» over the «police incursion, eviction and massive detentions» at the University of San Marcos and has urged the authorities to «account for the facts and guarantee the integrity and due process of all persons».
The National Human Rights Coordinator (CNDDHH) has denounced that the detainees are being forced to sign registry records without the presence of their lawyers or representatives of the Prosecutor’s Office at the DIRINCRI headquarters.
After the intervention, the rector of the university, Jerí Ramón, assured that she did not know that the police would use tanks in the operation. Ramon herself was the one who authorized the entry of the delegations from other parts of the country to the university campus and to spend the night there. Subsequently, the university denounced an aggression this Friday against security agents.
After the eviction of the University of San Marcos, a group of demonstrators went to the Lima Prefecture in support of the detainees. There, confrontations were registered with security forces, who evicted the attendees.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
