Children and adolescents are also subjected to torture and harsh treatment, and cases reported to Amnesty International include sexual abuse and death in custody.
The report documents over 30 cases of torture recorded in the past three years. These include the beating of Clotilde Vidal Paredes by police officers who stopped her and her husband on their way to work in a field in La Libertad department; the torture of student Aldo Mercedes Silvestre Ramírez - a student suffering from paranoid schizophrenia; and the repeated sexual abuse in custody of Elisa Rivera Toribio in Santa Lucía prison, Pasco department.
Amnesty International's report also highlights how conditions in maximum security prisons continue to amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. In particular, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and several human rights organization have called for the closure of Challapalca prison, situated 4,600 metres above sea level, where temperatures are extremely cold and conditions of isolation seriously curtail inmates' rights to maintain contacts with their families, lawyers and doctors.
"Not only has Challapalca prison not been closed. Prisoners continue to be transferred there - the last group as recently as April this year," Amnesty International said, renewing its call on the Peruvian authorities to close Challapalca prison and transfer all inmates.
The report documents over 30 cases of torture recorded in the past three years. These include the beating of Clotilde Vidal Paredes by police officers who stopped her and her husband on their way to work in a field in La Libertad department; the torture of student Aldo Mercedes Silvestre Ramírez - a student suffering from paranoid schizophrenia; and the repeated sexual abuse in custody of Elisa Rivera Toribio in Santa Lucía prison, Pasco department.
Amnesty International's report also highlights how conditions in maximum security prisons continue to amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. In particular, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and several human rights organization have called for the closure of Challapalca prison, situated 4,600 metres above sea level, where temperatures are extremely cold and conditions of isolation seriously curtail inmates' rights to maintain contacts with their families, lawyers and doctors.
"Not only has Challapalca prison not been closed. Prisoners continue to be transferred there - the last group as recently as April this year," Amnesty International said, renewing its call on the Peruvian authorities to close Challapalca prison and transfer all inmates.