INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY COMMITTEE
to Defend the Life of Dr. Abimael Guzmán

IEC-US, PMB #195, 3288 21st St, San Francisco CA 94110
415-252-5786, fax 415-252-7414

27 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3XX, U.K.
Fax/Phone 44-171-4820853

The IEC-US recently received this emergency memo.

Imprisoned Defense Lawyers in Peru
Put on Trial by Fujimori Regime…
Emergency Action Needed!!!

Tuesday, September 7th, 1999
For more information contact:
Will Harrell, National Lawyers Guild VP, 212-614-6432

We have just learned that the Peruvian defense lawyers, who have been in prison since their arrest in November 1997, are now going on trail in Lima for "terrorism." The Lima daily, La Republica, reported that the trial of four lawyers began Monday, September 6th in a special court set up inside the Miguel Castro Castro prison and that as many as five more lawyers will be tried in the next several days. If convicted these men face twenty to thirty years in prison. Their "crime" is that they provided legal defense for political prisoners.

La Republica reported that the Colegio de Abogados de Lima (Bar Association) is defending these lawyers and that a Colombian member of Lawyers Without Borders in observing the trial. Lawyers from the Bar Association of Lyons, France visited the defendants last week in prison.

In November of 1998 over 200 lawyers and 100 law students signed a "Statement from the Legal Community in the United States on Behalf of the Imprisoned Peruvian Lawyers." Similar statements were signed in Europe and Latin America. These protests were sent to the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights. In the spring of 1999, after a prosecutor stated that there was "no merit" in the charges, two of the lawyers were released without trial. But subsequently a special Peruvian court set up to review "terrorist" cases overruled a similar "no merit" opinion in the remaining cases and ordered that the lawyers stand trial. This decision by Peruvian authorities to put these prominent defense lawyers on trial coincided with Peru's withdrawal in July from the jurisdiction of the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights, a blatant violation of international treaty obligations.

There must be a timely, powerful exposure and protest of the attack on these Peruvian defense lawyers. The U.S. government, a supporter of the Fujimori regime, and the media have been mainly silent about this situation. These trials not only threaten the lives of these courageous men. They also further undermine the rights of Peruvians and set a dangerous international precedent.

We are calling on people to immediately send a fax of protest to the Peru government. It need not be long: The imprisonment and trail of these Peruvian defense lawyers for carrying out their professional responsibility is outrageous; the charges should be dropped and the lawyers immediately release from prison; the Fujimori regime is violating international standards and the fundamental rights of the people of Peru.

Send the fax to: President Fujimori, Lima Peru
Fax #011-511-447-1628 or Fax #011-511-428-8210

Be sure to send a copy of that fax to:
Sr. Heriberto Benitez, President, Human Rights Committee
Colegio de Abogados de Lima
Fax #011-511-441-9484

And very important, copy the fax to: Will Harrell, Fax #212-614-6499

Please circulate this emergency memo.
Thank You.

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