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International Emergency Committee to
BCM-IEC, 27 Old Gloucester Street |
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International Emergency Committee to
BCM-IEC, 27 Old Gloucester Street |
PRESS RELEASE
March 27, 2001International Delegation Now in Peru to Visit Dr. Guzman
The London office of the International Emergency Committee to Defend the Life of Abimael Guzman (IEC) has announced that a distinguished international delegation has just arrived in Lima to demand that the Peruvian government allow them to visit Dr. Abimael Guzman. Dr. Guzman, also known as Chairman Gonzalo, leader of the People's War in Peru, has been held in total isolation for more than eight years. He has been cut off from his lawyers, doctors, family and friends, and all media. Yet, during that time the government of Peru has claimed to speak for Dr. Guzman.
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The declared mission of this, the 7th IEC delegation, is to end the politically motivated, inhuman and illegal eight year isolation of Dr. Guzman and to force the government of Peru to allow Dr. Guzman to speak for himself on a live TV broadcast. The delegation will also raise the case of Oscar Ramirez Durand, also known as Comrade Feliciano and challenge the Peruvian authorities to adhere to its national and international obligations regarding political prisoners.
The delegation carrying out that mission now in Lima includes prominent defence lawyers from Colombia, Mexico and the U.S., university professors from Turkey and Colombia, a medical doctor from the U.S., and a former Minister of Health and Labour in the government of Nepal.
The delegation arrived in Lima on Sunday, March 25th and on Monday, March 26th they were at the Peruvian Ministry of Justice demanding to see Dr. Guzman. They will be in Lima for several days and their single minded focus is to break through the isolation of Dr. Guzman, whose trial and treatment set the precedent for, and continues to concentrate, the illegal and inhumane treatment of over 4000 political prisoners in Peru today.
From 1992 when Dr. Guzman was captured through 1995 the IEC sent six international delegations to Peru to prevent the Peruvian authorities from killing him, and then to end his illegal and inhumane isolation. Those delegations were made possible by the support of people all over the world. This, the 7th delegation comes after the fall of the "Fujimori-Montesinos regime" and also has the support of people from across the world. The IEC does not believe there will be any fundamental change in the U.S.-controlled Peruvian regime no matter who is elected president in the upcoming elections. But the current political and economic turmoil in Peru does open up possibilities for the work of the 7th IEC delegation.
The 7th IEC Delegation
Dr. Juan Jose Landinez, Colombia
Lawyer for political prisoners; member of the 6th IEC delegation in July 1995.Dr Jaime Bonilla-Godoy, Colombia
Professor of political economy and geography.Dr Enrique Gonzalez, Mexico
Lawyer; former vice president of the American Association of Jurists. Has previously travelled to Peru on behalf of the IEC.Mr Padma Ratna Tuladhar, Nepal
Former government minister of Labour and Health; former member of Nepalese Parliament. Chairman of the Forum for Protection of Human Rights in Nepal; Convenor of the South Asia IEC.Dr Haluk Gerger, Turkey
Professor of international relations and a journalist. Member of the 5th IEC delegation in October 1993. Founding member of the Human Rights Organisation of Turkey and a member of the executive committee of the World Federation of UN Associations.Prof Peter Erlinder, United States
One of the two international lawyers of Dr Abimael Guzman. Member of three previous IEC delegations. Former president of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG).Dr Heriberto Ocasio, United States
Medical doctor, IEC activist, and member of the 1st IEC delegation in September 1992.
