PUBLIC AI Index: AMR 46/003/2006

24 January 2006

Further Information on UA 07/06 (AMR 46/001/2006, 9 January 2006) Fear for safety

PERU Iscra Chávez Loaiza (f), Director of human rights organization APORVIDHA

Freddy Rodríguez Olivera (m), APORVIDHA lawyer

Evelyn Zevallos Enriquez (m), APORVIDHA lawyer

Other APORVIDHA staff

The Peruvian Minister of the Interior has reportedly instructed police in the southern department of Cuzco to investigate the threats against the human rights organization Asociación por la Vida y la Dignidad Humana (APORVIDHA), Association for Life and Human Dignity. Amnesty International believes that the lives of APORVIDHA staff are no longer in imminent danger.

APORVIDHA is currently providing legal representation to victims of human rights violations committed during the internal armed conflict of 1980-2000, and their relatives. APORVIDHA's director, Iscra Chávez Loaiza, and two of the organization's lawyers, Freddy Rodríguez Olivera and Evelyn Zevallos Enriquez, received threatening messages in early December, apparently in connection with their human rights work. It appears that Amnesty International's campaigning on this case led directly to the opening of the police investigation into the threats: in his communication with the police ordering the investigation, Interior Minister Dr. Rómulo Pizarro Tomasio stated that he was taking this action at the request of Amnesty International.

APORVIDHA has thanked Amnesty International for the UA issued on its behalf, saying, "Your support helps to strengthen the work of human rights defenders and makes us even more committed to continuing our work." (El apoyo de Amnistia Internacional contribuye a fortalecer el trabajo de todos/as los/as defensores/as de derechos humanos y nos compromete aún mas en su defensa).

No further action is required at present. Many thanks to all who sent appeals.