Peruvian authorities attempt to rescue children held in Maoist guerilla group
A campaign to rescue at least 50 children still in the hands of the Shining Path, the last surviving remnant of the Maoist guerrillas has been launched by the armed forces of Peru. The military and the government say the head of the group, Víctor Quispe Palomino, who also goes under the name of "comrade José," kidnaps children from local villages, as part of the Shining Path war strategy.
The children are being held in camps where they are indoctrinated and trained in the use of weapons. Photos and video footage confiscated from captured Shining Path guerrillas reportedly show dozens of children held by the group, including kidnapped local children from the region and the sons and daughters of 'Senderistas.'
LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The rebel group is currently only active in the Apurímac and Ene river valley region which stretches from the southern part of the country's Andean highlands to the central Amazon jungle region.
The children are being held in camps where they are indoctrinated and trained in the use of weapons. Photos and video footage confiscated from captured Shining Path guerrillas reportedly show dozens of children held by the group, including kidnapped local children from the region and the sons and daughters of "Senderistas."
"They use the kids as human shields," a high-ranking officer of the joint command, which is carrying out operations says. "They take them everywhere and make them participate in armed actions, as lookouts and messengers, and they even force them to kill off soldiers who are injured in the ambushes.
"If there is one reason the camps aren't being bombed, it's because of the presence of the children. They use them to protect themselves," said the anonymous source.
Authorities have managed to identify a number of the children, including several from the Ashaninka indigenous community, who live in Peru's central jungle region.
Posters, leaflets and pamphlets with photos of the abducted children have been distributed by the joint command throughout the region. Authorities hope to raise awareness among the local population and persuade them to provide information in order to rescue the children.
The indoctrination, military training and the use of children in combat are part of the strategy followed by Shining Path since the start of the 1980-2000 armed conflict.
Chief of the Shining Path Remnant Quispe Palomino is himself the son of Martín Quispe Mendoza, a Sendero leader who was killed in fighting with government forces in 1991.
Martín Quispe made his sons Víctor, Jorge and Martín Maoist "pioneers. The three sons now head up the last remaining Sendero faction, following the February 12 capture of the last of the original Shining Path leaders, Florindo Flores.
"The worst massacre of (peasants) committed by the Senderistas was in Lucanamarca, Ayacucho on Apr. 3, 1983. They killed 69 people for opposing the armed struggle. One-quarter of the victims were children. 'José' was one of the attackers, and he was only 22 years old," anti-terrorist prosecutor Julio Galindo says.
"For Quispe, children are instruments of war. Part of his policy is for the Senderistas to have children in the camps, so they can receive instruction from a very young age," he said.
"Víctor Quispe is reproducing his own personal experience. His father indoctrinated him and trained him in military tactics with the idea that he would continue the struggle, and now he is repeating the method with the children that he holds captive in the camps. He believes that some of those kids will stay in the armed struggle. It's madness," Galindo said.
Source http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=45252&utm_source=catholic.org%2Fhomepage&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=latest%2Bnews
The children are being held in camps where they are indoctrinated and trained in the use of weapons. Photos and video footage confiscated from captured Shining Path guerrillas reportedly show dozens of children held by the group, including kidnapped local children from the region and the sons and daughters of 'Senderistas.'
LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The rebel group is currently only active in the Apurímac and Ene river valley region which stretches from the southern part of the country's Andean highlands to the central Amazon jungle region.
The children are being held in camps where they are indoctrinated and trained in the use of weapons. Photos and video footage confiscated from captured Shining Path guerrillas reportedly show dozens of children held by the group, including kidnapped local children from the region and the sons and daughters of "Senderistas."
"They use the kids as human shields," a high-ranking officer of the joint command, which is carrying out operations says. "They take them everywhere and make them participate in armed actions, as lookouts and messengers, and they even force them to kill off soldiers who are injured in the ambushes.
"If there is one reason the camps aren't being bombed, it's because of the presence of the children. They use them to protect themselves," said the anonymous source.
Authorities have managed to identify a number of the children, including several from the Ashaninka indigenous community, who live in Peru's central jungle region.
Posters, leaflets and pamphlets with photos of the abducted children have been distributed by the joint command throughout the region. Authorities hope to raise awareness among the local population and persuade them to provide information in order to rescue the children.
The indoctrination, military training and the use of children in combat are part of the strategy followed by Shining Path since the start of the 1980-2000 armed conflict.
Chief of the Shining Path Remnant Quispe Palomino is himself the son of Martín Quispe Mendoza, a Sendero leader who was killed in fighting with government forces in 1991.
Martín Quispe made his sons Víctor, Jorge and Martín Maoist "pioneers. The three sons now head up the last remaining Sendero faction, following the February 12 capture of the last of the original Shining Path leaders, Florindo Flores.
"The worst massacre of (peasants) committed by the Senderistas was in Lucanamarca, Ayacucho on Apr. 3, 1983. They killed 69 people for opposing the armed struggle. One-quarter of the victims were children. 'José' was one of the attackers, and he was only 22 years old," anti-terrorist prosecutor Julio Galindo says.
"For Quispe, children are instruments of war. Part of his policy is for the Senderistas to have children in the camps, so they can receive instruction from a very young age," he said.
"Víctor Quispe is reproducing his own personal experience. His father indoctrinated him and trained him in military tactics with the idea that he would continue the struggle, and now he is repeating the method with the children that he holds captive in the camps. He believes that some of those kids will stay in the armed struggle. It's madness," Galindo said.
Source http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=45252&utm_source=catholic.org%2Fhomepage&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=latest%2Bnews
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