(22 Jul 1995) English/Nat
The lawyer representing the Shining Path leader Abimael Guzman has claimed his client's rights are being abused in jail.
Shining Path are accused of some of the most violent terrorist attacks ever seen in Latin America.
Many people in Peru are outraged that the lawyer, backed by international human rights organizations, is demanding that Guzman be treated as a political prisoner.
On Friday the Peruvian government prevented the lawyers of the Shinning Path leader Abimael Guzman from meeting with their client.
Guzman, who turned a ragtag rebel band into the most powerful and violent guerrilla movement in the Americas, is in custody serving a life sentence at the El Callao Navy Base.
His lawyer, U-S attorney Peter Erlinder, who traveled to El Callao along with four other lawyers, says that there have been serious violations of Guzman's rights.
SOUNDBITE:
"I'm aware that Dr Guzman was charged, I was aware that Dr Guzman was convicted. I was also aware - because I was here in 1992 - that they way that the trials were conducted, completely violated international law in a variety of important ways. The question in this case is not what it was that Dr Guzman did or did not do, the question is a question of law and a question of international treaties that the Peruvian government is required to abide by."
SUPER CAPTION: Peter Erlinder, Abimael Guzman's Lawyer
The lawyers have encountered harsh criticism from the Peruvian press as well as hostility from the Peruvian public who have been terrorised by the Shining Path over the years.
The manager of the hotel where the lawyers are staying denied permission for them to hold a press conference there after he found out who their client was.
While most Peruvians take exception at Erlinder's demand that Guzman be considered a political prisoner, Erlinder says he's just fighting for what is legally correct.
SOUNDBITE:
"I can say that from an international perspective, that any prisoner who is engaged in a political struggle - in a revolutionary struggle, in a civil war - is... still must be treated in ways that follow international law no matter who they are. And that must apply to the political prisoners in Peru including Dr Guzman."
SUPER CAPTION: Peter Erlinder, Abimael Guzman's Lawyer
Under the leadership of Guzman, a former philosophy professor, the Shinning Path conducted a bloody rebellion in which 25-thousand people, mostly poor Indian peasants, lost their lives.
The guerrilla movement gained power in the ten years before Guzman was captured in September 1992.
His lawyer argues that Guzman is being mistreated and may not face a fair trial.
SOUNDBITE:
"I think that the circumstances that I'm aware of is that the way the trials of Dr Guzman and other political prisoners have been conducted in Peru - violate international law without question. That has been decided by the Organisation of American States, by Amnesty International, by Americas Watch, by every organisation that has examined the way political prisoners have been tried and convicted in Peru."
SUPER CAPTION: Peter Erlinder, Abimael Guzman's Lawyer
Erlinder and his colleagues will keep applying pressure on the authorities to ensure Guzman is treated properly.
Since the capture of Guzman, the Shinning Path has been deeply weakened.
But Peru's President Alberto Fujimori, who will start a second term July 28, has so far been unable to fulfill his promise to eliminate the guerrilla movement.
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