With Telmo Hurtado Hurtado outside of the country, civil society must use all of its efforts to ensure that the Accomarca slaughter does not go unpunished and to force the authorities to request the extradition of the primary person responsible, affirmed the TRC's ex-president, Salomón Lerner Febres, when he found out about the military man's escape. "Accomarca is one of the emblematic cases that represents what Peru lived through during the twenty years of terrorist violence," Lerner explained. "I have the firm hope that a case such as this one will not be without sanction, otherwise our country has no hope of a better future."

Lerner explained that even the military expressed their agreement that the case should be reviewed in the civil courts. Lerner went on to state that the military establishment also expressed that not only Telmo Hurtado should be tried, but also the officials who ordered the killings.

"The crimes for which Telmo Hurtado is accused have been proven because he confessed. Unfortunately, at that time no suitable judicial process existed that could rule on the case," Lerner said.

Salomón Lerner recalled the horrific slaughter that was perpetrated by Hurtado. "He forced the settlers to enter a house.Unarmed women, elderly and young,were fired upon. Then he set them on fire. It was an act of great cruelty and a flagrant violation of human rights. And it so happens that Telmo Hurtado has left the country. The news is very sad," he indicated.

The TRC's report indicates that Telmo Hurtado Hurtado did not act on his own initiative, but that he acted under orders of his superiors. That is why the Army concealed his whereabouts for years so that he could not speak.

Published in: La Republica, Copyright La Republica 2004, 5 October 2004.