Peruvian generals arrested

Two former intelligence generals have been arrested in Peru accused of involvement in the massacre of fifteen suspected left-wing rebels in 1991.

The generals, Juan Rivera and Julio Salazar, are accused of links to the Colina group -- a death squad formed to quash the Peruvian Shining Path guerrilla movement in the nineties.

In 1995 an amnesty law gave immunity to the Peruvian army in cases of human rights abuses -- but last week the Inter-American Court of Human Rights part of the Organisation of American States ruled that this law broke international conventions.

Human rights organisations have welcomed the arrests; they said moves to negate the amnesty in Peru could have an impact in several other Latin American countries with similar laws.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service