Landmark verdict in the Manta case: 10 soldiers convicted of rape against Quechua-speaking peasant women in the internal armed conflict

Nine Quechua-speaking women A woman from the district of Manta (Huancavelica), a survivor of sexual violence perpetrated by the army during the internal armed conflict, received a historic verdict this Wednesday, which opens the way to justice, five years after the start of the second oral trial.

Ten of the 13 military personnel prosecuted were sentenced to prison by the First National Superior Criminal Court for temporary liquidation. When the sentence was pronounced, none of the defendants were present and many attended virtually. Punishment was reserved for three of them – Julio Meza, Edwin Carrasco and Diomedes Gutiérrez – because they were abusive prisoners.

Between 1984 and 1995, peasant women and girls from Manta and Vilaca reported that they were systematically raped and subjected to other forms of abuse by members of the armed forces. Many of them were teenagers and had to endure Forced pregnancy. Four decades later, her attackers have been put behind bars.

Sabino Valentín Ruti was sentenced to 12 years in prison; Rufino Rivera Quispe, Vicente Ynes Collahuacho, Epifanio Quiñónez Loyola, Amador Gutiérrez Lizarbe, Lorenzo Inga Romero, Raúl Pinto Ramos, and Arturo Simara García received 10-year sentences; Martín Sierra Gabriel was sentenced to 8 years; and Pedro Pérez López, 6 years.

Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission The (CVR) identified that 83% of the perpetrators belonged to the military and the National Police (PNP), while the remaining 17% were members of subversive groups. In many cases, senior leaders were aware of and encouraged these practices.

Cynthia SilvaThe director of Demus-Estudio for the Defense of Women’s Rights and the lawyer who accompanied the legal defense of the three survivors, indicated that she was waiting for the Public Ministry to “file the corresponding appeal to request an increase in the penalties”, which initially were 18 and 10 years, but were reduced to 10 and 12 years, respectively.

“Tomorrow we will talk about the decision of the aggrieved parties regarding the conditions for challenging the verdict. The penalties and civil compensation do not correspond to what the Chamber considers proven in court. No defendant appeared. You can see their places in the room empty,” he added.

Silva They also expressed their intention to file an appeal to have it annulled, and explained that they would have to define the conditions under which it would be applied. “In principle, we agree with all the grounds that support the conviction, and all the grounds that support the damage caused to these victims, but we do not agree with the reduction of sentences (…) and we also do not agree with the civil compensation which does not reflect the severity of the damage caused to the lives of these women. It is not proportionate,” they concluded.