Derechos: The Week in Human Rights - Nov. 25 to Dec. 1, 1996

Nov. 25



      (CNDDHH) - Peru - The National Coordinator of Human Rights,
a human rights umbrella group in Peru, reported today that former
General Rodolfo Robles was arrested by security forces in a violent
confrontation.  Eight people reportedly grabbed Robles and sprayed
him with an unknown substance in order to silence him.  Robles was
forced to leave the military and seek exile in 1993 after he revealed
the existence of a secret army death squad known as the Grupo
Colina, which was responsible for killing 10 students and a teacher at
La Cantuta University in July 1992.  Robles also publicly stated that
the Grupo Colina was under the direct orders of Vladimiro Montesinos
with the acquiescence of General Nicolas de Bari Hermoza Rios. 
Robles had recently claimed that a member of Grupo Colina had
attacked a local television station.  Peruvian Vice President of
Congress Carlos Torres said that "Gen. (Rodolfo) Robles has been
arrested at the request of the Supreme Military Justice Council ... for
insubordination."  According to School of the Americas Watch,
Montesinos and Rios attended the US Army School of the Americas.

 
      (UPI) - Peru - Peruvian human rights groups, newspapers, and
others today condemned the arrest of former army General Rodolfo
Robles, who has been charged under military law for disobedience and
insulting a superior officer for comments he made to the press. 
Robles' wife, Nelly Montoya, said she thinks that the agents who
abducted her husband would have killed him but changed their minds
because of the outcry and because witnesses recorded the license
numbers of the vehicles involved.  The National Coordinator of
Human Rights said that the former general should be subject to
civilian courts.  Earlier this month, Robles told Peru's Global
Television that one of the people who blew up its television station in
Puno was a member of Grupo Colina, a death squad under the orders
of intelligence adviser Vladimiro Montesinos.  Two callers claiming to
be part of Grupo Colina have given death threats to Robles' wife.

      (La Republica) - Peru - Peruvian military justice officials
suspended the lawyer of former general Rodolfo Robles for 3 months
(later expanded to 5 months 11/30) for casting doubts on the
capabilities of the military judges who will try the former general. 
Defending the suspension, Prosecutor Talledo said the remarks by
Robles' lawyer that not all the members of the Military Supreme
Justice have legal knowledge or training hurts the "majesty and the
honor" of the military court.  Only half of the members of the Military
Supreme Justice have graduated law school.  Robles protested his
lawyers' suspension, stating that this was a maneuver by the military
to deny him his right to a defense and oblige him to be represented by
a public defender.

      (AI) - Peru - Amnesty International said that General Rodolfo
Robles was a prisoner of conscience and called for his immediate and
unconditional release.

Nov. 29

Dec. 1

      (UPI) - Peru - Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori conceded
today that were "procedural errors" with the military's handling of the
arrest of former General Rodolfo Robles and indicated that he may
pardon Robles if he is convicted by a military tribunal.  However,
Fujimori did not seek Robles' release and an army tribunal has refused
a court order to free Robles.  Yesterday, a habeas corpus appeal filed
by lawyers for Robles' family had been granted by Lima's 33
Criminal Court.  Robles is imprisoned at the Real Felipe military
barracks charged with failure to obey orders, slander of the armed
forces and insulting a superior officer.  The charges appear to be
related to comments Robles made about the attack on a television
station in Puno.  Francisco Soberon, president of the Association for
Human Rights (APRODEH), dismissed Fujimori's offer of a pardon,
"Fujimori's statements are lamentable, because they imply a
presumption of guilt before there has been any legal finding."


AFP - Agence France Presse
AI - Amnesty International
AP - Associated Press
BBC - British Broadcasting Company
CNDDHH - Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos
CSM - Christian Science Monitor
CTK - Czech News Agency
DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
GNS - Gannett News Service
HRW - Human Rights Watch
IPS - Inter Press Service
LA Times- Los Angeles Times
NYT - New York Times
SF Chronicle - San Francisco Chronicle
UPI - United Press International
WP - Washington Post