A U.S. federal judge awarded $37 million to some of the survivors of a 1985 massacre in Peru. Former Peruvian Major Telmo Ricardo Hurtado Hurtado was held accountable for his role in the Accomarca massacre where over 60 villagers were murdered during a military operation seeking Shining Path guerillas.Hurtado has been under U.S. custody since April 2007 for violating immigration laws and shortly thereafter was sentenced to six months in jail. The lawsuit against him was brought by two survivors of the massacre who were twelve at the time and who hope the case serves as a message against impunity:
Although collecting any of the money is unlikely, the civil case has drawn new attention to Hurtado's role in the massacre and could help Peruvian authorities convict him of crimes he was charged with there in 2005, said Moira Feeney, spokeswoman for San Francisco-based Center for Justice & Accountability, which represented the two women.
"Our clients want to see him returned to Peru and prosecuted criminally," Feeney said. "If he does have assets or he does get a job, we have a judgment. We will be his creditors for the rest of his life."
Image- BBC News
Sources- Associated Press, JURIST, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Reuters, IOL, The Latin Americanist
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