Dr Salomón Lerner Febres, a prominent Peruvian academic and human rights defender has been the recipient of death threats. Human Rights Watch has reported that his dogs were poisoned and killed on 5 September 2009, while on 23 September he received an anonymous telephone call warning that “What we did to your dogs, we will do to you.” Dr Lerner, the former rector of the Catholic University of Peru and current president of the Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, is also the former president of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was set up in 2001 to investigate human rights violations and deaths committed by terrorist groups and the military during the 1980s and 90s. According to Human Rights Watch, Dr Lerner has previously been the victim of harassment and threats associated with his work for the commission, whose investigations have led to the prosecution of former military and police officers.

Please send appeals, urging the immediate investigation of these threats, to:

Presidente Alan Garcia
2009 Despacho Presidential
Jr. de la Unión 300 s/n 1era cuadra
Lima, Peru

Luis Castañeda Lossio
Alcalde de Lima Metropolitana
Municipalidad Metropolitana de Lima
Jr. de la Unión 300 / Jr. Conde de Superunda 177
Lima, Peru