Death squad arrests in Peru

Peru's army was granted immunity in cases of human rights abuses

Two former intelligence generals have been arrested in Peru accused of involvement in the 1991 massacre of 15 party-goers apparently mistaken for left-wing rebels.

The generals, Juan Rivera and Julio Salazar, are accused of having links to the Colina group - a death squad formed to quash the Peruvian Shining Path guerrilla movement in the 1990s.

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 ruled against this amnesty.

Montesinos is said to have formed the death squads

The court, the legal arm of the Organisation of American States (OAS), said the amnesty law was incompatible with the American Convention on Human Rights.

It called on Peru to punish members of the death squad, which rights groups say was formed by former President Alberto Fujimori's ex-spy chief, Vladimiro Montesinos.

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

Masked gunmen

In the November 1991 attack, at least six masked gunman burst into a small apartment in the Barrios Altos district, a poor Lima neighbourhood close to the presidential palace, and made a group of party-goers lie facedown on the floor.

Using pistols and automatic weapons fitted with silencers, they fired into the group, killing 15 people and injuring four.

Police said they found 111 bullet shells in the apartment after the attack.

Local media reported at the time that the death squad mistook the party for a secret meeting of Shining Path rebels.