(IPYS/IFEX) – Marilú Gambini Lostanau, correspondent for “Liberacion” daily in the city of Chimbote, capital of Provincia del Santa, department of Ancash, in the country’s northern region, reported that since August 2000 she has been continually harassed, presumably by officers of the Peruvian National Police (Policía Nacional del Perú, PNP) and the National Intelligence Service […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – Marilú Gambini Lostanau, correspondent for “Liberacion” daily in the city of Chimbote, capital of Provincia del Santa, department of Ancash, in the country’s northern region, reported that since August 2000 she has been continually harassed, presumably by officers of the Peruvian National Police (Policía Nacional del Perú, PNP) and the National Intelligence Service (Servicio de Inteligencia Nacional, SIN). The journalist has been investigating and reporting on irregularities committed by these two institutions, and it is suspected that this is the reason for her being targetted.
Since August, IPYS has been receiving a number of complaints from Gambini denouncing this harassment, but has kept the information to itself for the journalist’s own security – and at her request. Instead, during all this time, a number of measures were taken to protect her safety and that of her four children. Nevertheless, given the seriousness of more recent incidents, IPYS has now been authorised to publicise this information.
On 6 September, after the journalist received a number of threatening telephone calls, she was compelled to ask the Subprefect’s Office for guarantees for her own and her children’s safety. As she explained in her request, mysterious individuals appeared interested in having her silenced and it was likely that at any moment and when least expected, she could be summoned by the public prosecutor’s office for not having taken care of her children’s moral and material needs. In other calls she was warned: “if you continuing putting your nose where it does not belong, instead of drinking coffee, you will be drinking gasoline.”
In a document issued on 18 September, the subprefect for Provincia del Santa, Manuel Torres Vásquez, formally advised the journalist that she was being granted the protection she had asked for. However, “these measures were never actually put into place, there never was a police officer protecting me,” the journalist informed IPYS.
Gambini was investigating the systematic stealing of fuel destined for the Special Units Department (Departamento de Unidades Especiales, DUES), under PNP Major Orlando Castro Vidal, and the authorities’ collecting of commissions from common criminals and drug dealers. In addition, she was investigating possible links between members of the SIN in Chimbote and the brothers Aybar Cancho, who were involved in the arms trafficking to Colombia case. According to the report submitted by the journalist to IPYS, as a result of these investigations, she was prevented from entering a number of police precincts, under the pretext that these were restricted areas. Furthermore, any police officer who was seen speaking with her, faced repercussions.
On 26 October, unknown individuals entered Gambini’s home, taking advantage of the fact that she and her young children were not at home. The assailants did not take her belongings but removed documents related to investigations she had carried out in the past or she is currently involved in, such as the ones already mentioned. At the time, Gambini decided not to go to the police, as she had no guarantees that any complaint filed with them would receive the appropriate response. Instead, she filed a complaint with the Chimbote Office of the Ombudsman, and since then she has been assisted and advised by this institution.
The most serious incident occurred on 18 November, when one of the journalist’s children was kidnapped for almost ten hours. On that day, when Gambini came home at approximately 8:00 p.m. (local time), she was surprised to find that her youngest son, two and a half years old, had disappeared and that nobody, not her children nor her neighbours, was aware of his whereabouts. Some family members and friends organised a search party and unsuccessfully looked for the child until after midnight. At 5:00 a.m., when a resigned Gambini was waiting for dawn to reinitiate the search, there was a noise by the front door. Outside she found her son, who was apparently in good condition. A hand-written note found on her son said: “SQUEALER, THIS IS ONLY A WARNING …… THE NEXT ONE WON’T BE…..”.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
– calling for concrete measures to protect the journalist and her family, for an extensive investigation into these incidents and for sanctions against the perpetrators of these attacks
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:
Dr. Valentín Paniagua Corazao
President of the Republic
Fax: +51 1 427 6722 / 426 6535
Colonel of the PNP Carlos Leon Romero
Chief of the Chimbote Region, Peruvian National Police
Fax: +51 44 32 2861
Dr. Jorge Santistevan de Noriega
Ombudsman
Fax: +51 1 426 6657
Federico Hurtado Esquerre
Director General of the Peruvian National Police
Fax: +51 1 225 1775
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
