DATE=03-21-03

TYPE=INTERVIEW

NUMBER=3-99

TITLE=BRETT - PERU

BYLINE=SARAH WILLIAMS

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

CONTENT=

INTRO: Late Wednesday, a car bomb went off near the U-S Embassy in Lima, Peru, killing at least nine people. The bombing occured as President Bush is scheduled to arrive in the South American nation on Saturday. Mr. Bush said he is determined to visit Lima despite the attack. No claim of responsibility has been issued, but authorities suspect leftist rebels. The violence was reminiscent of attacks carried out by the Shining Path guerrillas, which terrorized the country during the early 1990's. Sebastian Brett, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch who is based in the Andean region, tells News Now's Sarah Williams that former President Alberto Fujimori was successful in cracking down on the Shining Path but at a great cost to the country's democracy.

MR. BRETT: Because if you compare the situation now with what it was when Fujimori took over, clearly the Shining Path is no longer a real threat to the government as it clearly was in those days. So, in those terms, he definitely has contributed to pacifying the country, but at an enormous human rights cost. And actually, at this particular moment in time, Peru has appointed a truth commission which is trying to look into the whole reason and the nature for political violence in Peru over a 20-year period, from 1980 to 2000. And hopefully that will shed light on why, despite huge success in combating terrorism, there was such an appalling deterioration in respect for democratic institutions and human rights.

MS. WILLIAMS: Unfortunately there has been a car bomb explosion near the U.S. Embassy in Lima. Is there concern within Peru that perhaps terrorism might be reemerging?

MR. BRETT: This has been extremely shocking for most Peruvians, because I think the vast majority of people in Peru thought that that kind of violence had been put behind them, more or less forever. And Sendero Luminoso, or Shining Path, has been on the decline for years. It only really is active in some fairly isolated pockets to the north of Lima, in the jungle region, called the Alto Huallaga. There has not been an attack in Lima like this since 1995, when a similar type of car bomb was put outside a hotel and killed five people. And so we're talking about seven years ago. So I think this is a huge shock to the Peruvians and unfortunately revives some very unpleasant memories for them.

MS. WILLIAMS: Is there any connection between the Shining Path and, say, the illegal drug trade?

MR. BRETT: Oh, certainly. The area in which the Shining Path still has some support and is still fairly active is a drug trafficking area, and there are connections between Shining Path and drug traffickers. I wouldn't say it's on the same scale as that phenomena happens in Colombia, but it is certainly part of the problem.

MS. WILLIAMS: President Bush is scheduled to be visiting Lima in just a few days. Following the bombing and various other concerns, what impact do you think the visit of President Bush will have on Peru?

MR. BRETT: I think that, in two respects, it will be important for Peru. First of all, because, as Bush himself has expressed it, it is a kind of gesture of support for Peru's really extraordinary transition to return to democratic institutions. And I think that if the Bush visit goes ahead, it will also convey a message that the Peruvians must stand firm against these kinds of terrorist actions. And that will be a message which will obviously be well received in Washington.

(End of interview.)

Host: Sebastian Brett, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch, speaking from Santiago, Chile.

NEB/PT