General Rodolfo Robles Freed Dec. 7!!
General Robles was kidnapped by members of the National Intelligence Service of Peru on Tuesday November 26. He was brutally beaten and gassed before being introduced into a car and taken into an army base. His illegal arrest is based on trumped-up charges of "offending the Armed Forces". These are based on public declarations made by General Robles accusing some of the leadership of the Peruvian Army of being involved in the attempted bombing of a TV Station in Puno. The Army also objects to Gen. Robles opposition of the Amnesty Law, that guarantees total impunity to human rights violators, and of his membership in the Civic Committee Against Impunity, a human rights group.
General Robles came to national and international fame in 1993 when he went public with denunciations of the existence of a death squad operating within the Peruvian Army and Intelligence Service, under the tutelage of Vladimiro Montesinos, the head of the National Intelligence Service, and General Hermoza Ríos, the Commander General of the Army. While members of the death squad were tried and convicted for the disappearance and death of 9 students and a professor, neither Montesinos nor Hermoza Ríos were charged, and they continue in their posts. It appears that the order to arrest Gral Robles came from Hermoza Ríos.
General Robles has now been officially charged by the Military Tribunal, who refused the habeas corpus order of a Civilian Judge, and he remains in detention. His lawyer was suspended for calling into question the legal abilities of the Military Tribunal, as only half of its members have any legal training. President Fujimori has condemned the method by which Robles was arrested and has said that he would pardon Robles if convicted, but has done nothing to stop the very illegal actions by the Military Supreme Council. His arrest was widely condemned by the international community, the population at large of Peru, human rights groups and retired military.
General Robles was released on December 7 after the Peruvian Congress passed a law granting him amnesty.
We unfortunately do not have very much information on these matters available in English right now. If you can read
Spanish, please check out our Spanish language page on Gen. Robles.
Thank you for not letting the forces of darkness, silence and impunity win in Peru!
With English language information on his case.
Short Article by General Robles. In English.
27.11.96
News on the Case
UPI, 1.12.96
UPI, 30.11.96