Uchuraccay: Remains of three terrorism victims recovered in Peru

Human rights prosecutors in Ayacucho, Peru, have recovered the skeletal remains of three individuals executed by the Sendero Luminoso terrorist organization in 1983. The victims, identified as Daniel Chocce Ayala, Simón Figueroa Cunto, and Ignacio Figueroa Gavilán, were killed on December 24, 1983, at a school in the Uchuraccay district of Huanta.

According to the humanitarian investigation, members of the subversive group forced local residents to gather at the school under threat. Following an ideological speech, the group used a list to identify individuals accused of collaborating with law enforcement—referred to as ‘yanahumas’ or traitors—and executed them by gunfire.

The exhumation was led by Deputy Provincial Prosecutor Richard Ataucusi Saccsara and archaeologist Carlos Rubén Montezuma Pazos from the Specialized Forensic Team (EFE). The remains will undergo forensic analysis for identification before being returned to families for dignified burial. Investigators noted that the remains of a fourth victim were not recovered during this operation, and they reported that the General Directorate for the Search of Disappeared Persons failed to provide support due to budget constraints.