Members of the Peruvian National Police (PNP) captured one of the most wanted fugitives, Santiago Alberto Picón Pesantes, better known as 'Captain Jackal'. He is considered responsible for the massacres of the communities of Chuschi and Totos, in Ayacucho, in 1983.
The Ministry of the Interior offered S/ 20,000 soles for information on the whereabouts of Picón Pesantes, who ended up being captured on April 4 when he was at the intersection of Carmelos and Cántaro Street, in the El Golf urbanization, in the Víctor Larco Herrera district, in Trujillo.
The accused was taken to the Alcides Vigo Hurtado Police Complex to continue the proceedings and then be placed at the disposal of the requesting judicial authority.
SEARCH AND CAPTURE
The 'Captain Jackal' had been escaping justice for 37 years, which had stopped the trial for the massacre of the peasants in Totos. In this way, he is expected to have key information about the graves where the bodies would have been dumped.
After an intelligence work, Picón Pesantes was intervened by the staff of Depincri Trujillo, from the area against terrorism and the area of trafficking in persons, smuggling of migrants and search for missing persons in Trujillo and in coordination with the Intelligence Section.
It has three requirements in force for the crime against life, body and health, in the form of qualified homicide; and for which it was requested by the 4th Criminal Chamber of Lima, through letter No. 055-22 of March 14, 2022. He is also charged with the crime against humanity-forced disappearance, and requested by the same previous chamber, and crime against humanity-forced disappearance of persons and required by the Lima Criminal Chamber on October 26, 2017.
WHO IS 'CAPTAIN JACKAL'?
Army officer Santiago Alberto Picón Pesantes, now in retirement, was the head of the group of soldiers who were stationed in the town of Totos, in the area of Ccarpaccsa, in the Ayacucho province of Cangallo, to combat the subversion. He has been held responsible for the massacre of four peasants who were killed by an army platoon in April 1983.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) formally denounced 'Captain Jackal' for qualified homicide, whom it identified as an alleged extrajudicial executor of this massacre, one of the worst that occurred during the time of the internal armed conflict.
“Santiago Picón Pesantes was captain 'Jackal'. He always went out to the door of the base or to the square. We knew him well,” Aldo Todelano, president of the Association of Relatives of People Affected by Political Violence of Totos (ASAVIP), told the newspaper La República.
HOW DID THE 1983 MASSACRE HAPPEN?
In April 1983, the Shining Path terrorist group had settled in the area and military personnel were deployed to Totos. Immediately, members of the army and the “sinchis” carried out continuous operations in the village and surrounding rural areas.
Witnesses commented that after their arrival, the military called the commoners to the base and detained them.
“The captain called the population for a meeting, saying that nothing was going to happen to them, but when they came back, they started calling names with a list and made them stay at school,” Todelano said.
Julio Godoy Bellido was captured in his farm in Uccllahuanca while he was resting; Roberto López León was arrested in Ccarpaccasa while he was doing his agricultural tasks. In the following days, around 10 April, Marcelino Zamora Vivanco and Primitivo Tucno Medina were also arrested, after going to register at the Totos Military Base.
The four were detained for approximately nine days in the military unit, according to the version obtained by the Office of the Ombudsman. Their relatives asked about them, but the military gave them no reason for their whereabouts.
It was learned that Godoy Bellido and Zamora Vivanco were killed and buried in a pit in the area known as Ccarpaccasa. In 2002, his remains were exhumed, identified and returned to his relatives.
However, there are more people who claim that their relatives were abducted, but they still have no information on the location of their remains. This is the case of the family of Francisco Núñez Vilca, who in 1993 was taken by the military to the community of Catalinayoq for a meeting, but never returned.
TRIAL AND SENTENCE
The crimes of 'Captain Jackal' were first denounced by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in 2003. Following this, the Prosecutor's Office initiated the relevant investigations into the case.
There are five cases of human rights violations committed in different communities: Ccarpaccasa, Sillaccasa, Sancaypata, Totos and the disappeared from Tuco. The victims, in total, are more than 30. The first two cases were accumulated into one, since they had similar characteristics and the same perpetrator.
After five years of proceedings, the prosecution was issued in September 2008, but the trial could not begin because Picón Pisantes was at large. He was captured on April 4, 2022, so it is hoped that the process can be resumed.
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