Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity | Peru

The year 2000 ushered in more than just a new millennium in Peru. It witnessed a return to democracy after years of internal armed conflict and authoritarian rule. It also signaled the beginning of the country's efforts to come to terms with a long legacy of widespread and systematic human rights abuses. Peru's political transition, triggered by the fall of President Alberto Fujimori in 2000, revolved in significant part around how to respond to the terrible crimes against humanity committed between 1980 and 2000 by Peruvian security forces and their principal nemesis, a guerrilla group known as Sendero Luminoso (the Shining Path). The ultimate success of Peru's return to peace, democracy, and the rule of law depends in no small measure on whether the perpetrators of the worst crimes can be held accountable.

Peru's civil conflict was a vicious struggle for power between rebel forces, primarily the Shining Path, and...