The Peruvian Government has authorized intervention by the Armed Forces in support of the
to ensure the control and maintenance of internal order, as well as provide support in the performance of police operations in Lima and Callao regions, for 30 calendar days.
According to Supreme Resolution No. 191-2021-IN —published in the Official Gazette El Peruano— the Armed Forces' role constitutes a task to support the mission of the police and does not replace the active participation of the latter.
The resolution indicates that the Armed Forces' role is aimed at contributing and ensuring the rights to personal freedom and security; freedom of transit on roads and highways; the right to peace and tranquility; as well as the proper functioning of essential public services and safeguarding matters essential for the normal development of activities by the affected population.
This way, it will be easier for police members to focus their actions on the control of internal order and interactions with the population.
The intervention by the Armed Forces is carried out in accordance with the provisions of Legislative Decree No. 1095. This decree establishes the Rules for Use of Force by the Armed Forces in the National Territory; and its regulation, approved by Supreme Decree No. 003-2020-DE.
The supreme resolution specifies that intervention by the Armed Forces does not imply —in any way— the restriction, suspension, or infringement of fundamental rights enshrined in the Political Constitution, the laws, or international treaties on human rights to which Peru had adhered.
It also said the
National Police of Peru requested that the Armed Forces intervene in support so as to ensure control and maintenance of internal order.
The
National Police of Peru based this petition on Report 129-2021-SCG-PNP/OFIPOI, which mentioned the problems existing in Lima and Callao regions as a result of common and organized crime in those areas.
The document warns of a significant increase in the crime rate in said areas, where criminal organizations perform illicit activities linked —among others— to drug trafficking in its different forms; illegal possession of weapons; robbery; theft; and other crimes that put citizens' physical integrity in danger, adding that those illicit acts have managed to exceed the operational capacity of the
National Police of Peru.