Peru: Police attack on poet
Published: June 18, 2008
English PEN is concerned by reports of an assault on the Peruvian poet Juan Cristóbal during a police raid on a literary event in Lima on 23 May 2008.
According to our information, at around 10.20pm on 23 May 2008, some 30 national police officers arrived at the El Averno Cultural Centre along with some security guards from Lima Municipality. According to eyewitness reports, they did not have a search warrant and their attitude was aggressive. Patrons tried to prevent the police and guards from entering but they forced their way in and starting demanding identity cards.
Witnessing an assault on the centre manager and his wife, Cristóbal intervened and was himself beaten. The police then released tear gas into the small venue. As a result, Cristóbal had a severe asthma attack, after which he had to be helped out of the centre and taken home. He sustained injuries to his abdomen, ribs and nose as a result of these incidents. Other patrons, including some artists, were also assaulted. This was the third police raid on the cultural centre in recent months. According to the director of the cultural centre, the reason given for the previous raids in March was to search for 'suspicious types and poets' as well as illegal immigrants.
The police reportedly stated that the raid was 'a support operation for Lima municipality'; a representative from the municipality claimed that the cultural centre was a 'commercial centre' and did not have the required safety certificate. However, there are fears that the police's intention may have been to identify writers and artists who had signed a petition calling for the release of Melissa Patiño, a young Peruvian poet who was jailed on terrorism charges from February to May 2008.
This incident is illustrative of a wave of attacks on writers and journalists in Peru. Attacks on writers and print journalists have been on the rise in Peru over the last year, with a total of 21 attacks recorded by PEN in 2008 to date, most against journalists, compared with 11 such incidents recorded in the first six months of 2007.
Juan Cristóbal is a member of Peruvian PEN and its Writers in Prison Committee.
Please send appeals:
· Protesting the police assault on Juan Cristóbal and the series of raids on the Averno cultural centre;
· Expressing concern about the increasing prevalence over the past year of official harassment of writers and journalists in Peru, who are apparently being targeted for peaceful exercising their right to free expression and association;
· Asking that these incidents be properly investigated, and should an abuse of authority have occurred, that those responsible be brought to justice.
Appeals to:
Economista Luis Alva Castro
Ministro del Interior
Ministerio del Interior,
Plaza 30 de Agosto, s/n, Corpacs,
San Isidro,
Lima,
Peru
Salutation: Sr. Ministro/ Dear Minister
Please send also appeals to diplomatic representatives of Peru in London:
His Excellency Ricardo V. Luna
52 Sloane Street
London
SW1X 9SP
Letters to the press:
PEN members may also consider writing letters to national newspapers expressing concern at events in Peru, and highlighting the case of Juan Cristóbal and the El Averno Cultural Centre in Lima as an example of the rising repression of writers in the country.
According to our information, at around 10.20pm on 23 May 2008, some 30 national police officers arrived at the El Averno Cultural Centre along with some security guards from Lima Municipality. According to eyewitness reports, they did not have a search warrant and their attitude was aggressive. Patrons tried to prevent the police and guards from entering but they forced their way in and starting demanding identity cards.
Witnessing an assault on the centre manager and his wife, Cristóbal intervened and was himself beaten. The police then released tear gas into the small venue. As a result, Cristóbal had a severe asthma attack, after which he had to be helped out of the centre and taken home. He sustained injuries to his abdomen, ribs and nose as a result of these incidents. Other patrons, including some artists, were also assaulted. This was the third police raid on the cultural centre in recent months. According to the director of the cultural centre, the reason given for the previous raids in March was to search for 'suspicious types and poets' as well as illegal immigrants.
The police reportedly stated that the raid was 'a support operation for Lima municipality'; a representative from the municipality claimed that the cultural centre was a 'commercial centre' and did not have the required safety certificate. However, there are fears that the police's intention may have been to identify writers and artists who had signed a petition calling for the release of Melissa Patiño, a young Peruvian poet who was jailed on terrorism charges from February to May 2008.
This incident is illustrative of a wave of attacks on writers and journalists in Peru. Attacks on writers and print journalists have been on the rise in Peru over the last year, with a total of 21 attacks recorded by PEN in 2008 to date, most against journalists, compared with 11 such incidents recorded in the first six months of 2007.
Juan Cristóbal is a member of Peruvian PEN and its Writers in Prison Committee.
Please send appeals:
· Protesting the police assault on Juan Cristóbal and the series of raids on the Averno cultural centre;
· Expressing concern about the increasing prevalence over the past year of official harassment of writers and journalists in Peru, who are apparently being targeted for peaceful exercising their right to free expression and association;
· Asking that these incidents be properly investigated, and should an abuse of authority have occurred, that those responsible be brought to justice.
Appeals to:
Economista Luis Alva Castro
Ministro del Interior
Ministerio del Interior,
Plaza 30 de Agosto, s/n, Corpacs,
San Isidro,
Lima,
Peru
Salutation: Sr. Ministro/ Dear Minister
Please send also appeals to diplomatic representatives of Peru in London:
His Excellency Ricardo V. Luna
52 Sloane Street
London
SW1X 9SP
Letters to the press:
PEN members may also consider writing letters to national newspapers expressing concern at events in Peru, and highlighting the case of Juan Cristóbal and the El Averno Cultural Centre in Lima as an example of the rising repression of writers in the country.