|
(Continued from page 28)
Crowd control tactics of Peru's police unmatched in lethality among region's security forces
• LIMA, Peru (AP) -- Sixteen-year-old Cesar Medina was returning home from an Internet cafe, his mother says, and got caught up in a crowd of demonstrators when police and soldiers opened fire. A bullet tore into his head, killing him instantly.
• The youth was among five civilians killed in this month's outbreak of violence over Peru's biggest mining project, and while authorities have not said who fired the deadly shots, local journalists say it was security forces.
• Civilian deaths are disturbingly frequent when protesters in provincial Peru confront police, whose standard means of crowd control appear to be live ammunition, typically fired from Kalashnikov or Galil assault rifles.
• Since 2006, bullets fired by Peruvian security forces to quell protests have killed 80 people and wounded more than 800, according to the independent National Coordinator for Human Rights watchdog. Human rights activists say that reflects a disregard for human life unmatched in the region and argue that the government's routine use of deadly force against protesters could exacerbate violence.
• "These numbers would be a scandal abroad. And I'm not talking about a comparison with Europe, but with Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, where there are protests but not so many deaths," said Jorge Mansilla, investigator for Peru's national ombudsman's office.
• ___
DC police chief: Reports differ about officer's alleged threatening remarks about first lady
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- If your job is protecting the first lady's motorcade, mouthing off about the boss can lead to more than a citation in a personnel file.
• A District of Columbia police officer found that out this week when he came under investigation for threatening comments he was accused of making about first lady Michelle Obama, though police are still trying to figure out exactly what was said, Police Chief Cathy Lanier said Friday.
• "Five people can be in the room and will relate five different kinds of stories or versions of a story," Lanier said. "As we take statements, there's going to naturally in every investigation be some inconsistencies."
• Authorities have not identified the officer, a 17-year department veteran who has (Continued on page 30)
|
|
