HUMALA FORMALLY CHARGED WITH HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

C O N F I D E N T I A L LIMA 003487 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/01/2015 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PE SUBJECT: HUMALA FORMALLY CHARGED WITH HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES REF: A. LIMA 3349 ¶B. LIMA 494 Classified By: PolCouns Alexis Ludwig Reason: 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Former presidential candidate Ollanta Humala was formally charged with human rights violations, and prohibited from leaving the country. While Humala has claimed the accusations are politicized, human rights representatives say they are credible and likely to stick. Humala's legal problems are a further blow to his political stature and could cripple his ability to lead the opposition. End Summary. ¶2. (U) After months of being dogged by allegations of human rights violations (refs),former presidential candidate Ollanta Humala was formally charged on August 31. The charges identify Humala as the "intellectual author" of the 1992 forced disappearance and murder of two detainees and the torture of another detainee at the Madre Mia counter-terrorism military base in the San Martin department. Humala was an army captain and a camp commander at the time. On issuing her ruling, Judge Miluska Cano also prohibited Humala from leaving the country or changing residences, and froze his assets. ¶3. (C) Humala and his supporters have long claimed that these allegations were flawed and politically motivated. Our human rights contacts disagree. Alejandro Silva Reyna from the Office of the Human Rights Coordinator told Poloff recently that the case against Humala was credible. Reyna said that witnesses against Humala included not only victims but also subordinates who would testify that the accused had ordered executions. ¶4. (SBU) Comment: The accusations of human right violations first arose in the heat of the presidential campaign in January when Humala's political support was rising. These formal charges come when Humala's political influence appears to be waning, and could accelerate his decline. They may also cripple his effectiveness as an opposition leader to the new Garcia government. End Comment. STRUBLE