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Scores of constabulary raided a Lima assemblage connected Saturday, smashing down the gates with an armoured vehicle, firing teargas and detaining much than 200 radical who had travel to the Peruvian superior to instrumentality portion successful anti-government protests.
Images showed dozens of radical lying look down connected the crushed astatine San Marcos University aft the astonishment constabulary operation. Students told the Guardian they were pushed, kicked and deed with truncheons arsenic they were forced retired of their dormitories.
The constabulary raid connected San Marcos University – the oldest successful the Americas – is the latest successful a bid of affronts driving increasing calls for President Dina Boluarte to measurement down aft six weeks of unrest that has claimed 60 lives, portion leaving astatine slightest 580 injured and much than 500 arrested.
The demonstrations began successful aboriginal December successful enactment of the ousted erstwhile president Pedro Castillo but person shifted overwhelmingly to request Boluarte’s resignation, the closure of Congress and caller elections. Boluarte was Castillo’s vice-president and replaced him aft helium attempted to shutter congress and regularisation by decree connected 7 December.
Many of those arrested successful Saturday’s raid had travelled from confederate Peru to the superior to instrumentality portion successful a objection past Thursday labelled the “takeover of Lima” which began peacefully but descended into moving battles betwixt protesters and riot constabulary amid stone-throwing and swirls of teargas.
In a connection connected Twitter, the bureau of the UN precocious commissioner for quality rights called connected the Peruvian authorities to “ensure the legality and proportionality of the [police] involution and guarantees of owed process”. It emphasised the value of the beingness of prosecutors, who were absent for the archetypal hours of the raid.
Students surviving successful halls of residence said they were violently forced retired of their rooms by equipped constabulary who busted successful doors and utilized shoves and kicks to eject them.
Esteban Godofredo, a 20-year-old governmental subject student, was fixed aesculapian attraction for injuries to his leg. “He deed maine with his instrumentality and helium threw maine to the crushed and started kicking me,” Godofredo told the Guardian arsenic helium sat connected the writer extracurricular the residence with a heavy bruised, bandaged close calf.
Videos seen by the Guardian showed confused and terrified students massed extracurricular their halls, immoderate inactive successful pyjamas, arsenic riot constabulary shouted orders and insults. Young men were forced to basal against a partition oregon kneel successful a row.
“They pointed their guns astatine us, and shouted ‘Out out.’ We didn’t adjacent person clip to get our IDs,” said Jenny Fuentes, 20, a pupil teacher. “They forced america to kneel. Many of the girls were crying but they told america to unopen up.”
“They didn’t archer america wherefore we were being forced retired of our rooms,” she said. The radical of astir 90 students, who had remained connected field during the summertime holidays to enactment and study, were past marched to the main patio, a 10-minute walk, wherever the different radical had been detained.
Several hours aft the raid, they had not been allowed to instrumentality to their rooms which were being searched by police.
“I person been a pupil astatine San Marcos [University] and since the 1980s we person not experienced specified an outrage,” Susel Paredes, a congresswoman, told the Guardian arsenic she was prevented from entering the field by a constabulary cordon.
“The constabulary person entered the assemblage residence, the rooms of the pistillate students who had thing to bash with the demonstrators. They person threatened them and taken them retired of their rooms portion they were sleeping.”
Paredes said it was a flashback to regular constabulary and equipped forces raids connected the nationalist assemblage successful the 1980s and 90s, erstwhile the field was seen arsenic a hotbed for subversion during the state’s struggle with the Mao-inspired Shining Path rebels.
“We are not successful that time, we are supposedly nether a antiauthoritarian authorities that should respect cardinal rights,” Paredes said.
Amid the demonstrations and with roadblocks paralysing overmuch of the country, Peruvian authorities connected Saturday ordered the closure “until further notice” of the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu and the Inca way that leads to the satellite practice archeological tract – Peru’s biggest tourer attraction which brings successful much than 1 cardinal visitors a year.
English (US)