Peru's military and police likely carried out extrajudicial or arbitrary killings and committed other "egregious abuses" against demonstrators as well as bystanders during protests that swept the country [5] from late last year through February, Human Rights Watch says in a new report. While some protesters were responsible for acts of violence, security forces responded with "grossly disproportionate" force, including with assault weapons. Forty-nine protesters and bystanders, including eight children, were documented as killed in the unrest. The April 26 report, "Deadly Decline: Security Force Abuses and Democratic Crisis in Peru [9]" emphasizes "the entrenched political and social crisis that is eroding the rule of law and human rights" in the Andean country. The administration of President Dina Boluarte "seems to have looked the other way for weeks as security forces killed protesters and bystanders," said César Muñoz, associate Americas director at Human Rights Watch. (HRW [6])
