Fujimori's Prisoners
Thousands of innocent people imprisoned in Peru
A violent anti-terrorism campaign has left hundreds, possibly thousands of innocent Peruvians detained.
After four years in a Peruvian jail for terrorism, pardoned prisoner Victor Villanueve returns home to his family on crutches. When government soldiers came to take him away they shot him in the back. "I am like this because of an injustice, who is going to put right this mistake?" Deprived of its breadwinner, his family now lives in Lima's slums. Prisoners like him have received no compensation. There are still 3,500 people detained on charges of terrorism, many of them, as the government now admit, unjustly. They're victims of Fujimori's anti-terrorism offensive against the left-wing Shining Path and Tupac Amaru guerrillas, a campaign that succeeded in controlling the guerrillas but left a legacy of near martial rule when Fujimori dissolved the nation's courts and congress in 1991. The autocratic structure survives thanks to a series of army victories. Fujimori's popularity soared when the Shining Path leader was captured, caged and displayed like a prize tiger. Yet the highs have been sullied by security forces widely accused of brutality and disquiet over sluggish social and economic progress. Is Fujimori outstaying his welcome?
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Produced by Journeyman Pictures