‘Dramatic setback’: Will Peru’s new amnesty law put justice out of reach?

First came the rattle of a loud explosion. Then, the patter of gunfire reached 14-year-old Francisco Ochoa’s ears.

Ochoa and his father had been up since the crack of dawn on August 14, 1985, preparing to sow seeds in the corn fields outside Accomarca, a small village nestled in the rugged Andean mountains of south-central Peru.

But the unexpected sounds coming from their hometown forced them to rush back.

It was late morning by the time they reached the houses, but the village was eerily quiet.

“The first thing I remember from that day is the smell when we arrived,” Ochoa, now 54, recalled. “It smelled like smouldering flesh, and there was no one around.”

They had stumbled upon one of the most infamous massacres of Peru’s two-decade-long armed conflict, one that marks its 40th anniversary this year.

From 1980 to 2000, the country’s military and security forces led a campaign against the Shining Path and Tupac Amaru rebel groups, which sought to overthrow the government.

But in the process, soldiers and police officers committed gross human rights violations, killing dissidents, Indigenous people and other civilians.

As many as 70,000 people were slaughtered. Many families have yet to find justice for their lost loved ones.

But the horrors of 1985 come back to Ochoa anew when he thinks about a bill the Peruvian Congress approved this month, granting amnesty to members of the armed forces and law enforcement accused of crimes during that period.

The bill now awaits action from President Dina Boluarte, who can choose to let it become law — or send it back to Congress.

Survivors and human rights advocates are urging Boluarte to bar it from taking effect.

“This is a dramatic setback,” said Jo-Marie Burt, a professor at George Mason University who has written about the violence during the war.

Up to this point, Burt said, Peru has been a leader in seeking accountability for human rights concerns.

“Peru is among a handful of countries in Latin America that has successfully brought to trial some of the most emblematic cases of grave violations of human rights that were committed during its armed conflict,” she explained.