Retired Peruvian soldiers convicted of raping Rurak women and girls in the 1980s

A court in Peru has sentenced ten retired soldiers to up to twelve years in prison for raping nine young girls and women many years ago during the country’s armed conflict.

The verdict ended five years of hearings in the first case in the South American country involving sex crimes committed by soldiers.

The court considered these systematic rapes a crime against humanity.

Judge Rene Eduardo Martinez sentenced the men, none of whom appeared in court, to prison terms ranging from six to twelve years.

While some human rights groups welcomed the convictions, some survivors expressed disappointment that the prison sentences were not longer.

The case dates back to 1984, when the army set up a base near the Andean cities of Manta and Vilca in Huancavelica, one of the poorest regions in Peru.

Many of the victims were minors at the time of the rape and five of them became pregnant as a result of the rape, their lawyers said in court.

The soldiers sentenced on Tuesday were stationed in the districts of Manta and Vilca in the Andes.

The court found that they had systematically attacked local girls and women in their army bases, at checkpoints and even in women’s homes.

Olekanma Favour is an imaginative, motivated and result-oriented writer.