HUAMANGA, Peru (AP) — The small farmers came from remote mountains and jungle valleys to receive the exhumed remains of loved ones slain three decades ago during Peru’s dirty war.
Hundreds arrived in the Ayacucho state capital for Monday’s handover of 80 sets of remains.
Simple white coffins bore the bones of fathers, mothers, wives, children and brothers.
Julio Quispe took delivery of the bones of his wife, Elisa, and their 1-year-old child.
He said he had watched, hidden behind a tree, as soldiers killed them in 1984 in the village of Bellavista.
Officials say his parents and a sister also were killed by soldiers, who accused them of collaborating with Shining Path rebels.
Forensic investigations chief Luis Rueda said others who had tried to remain neutral were slain by the Shining Path.
Forensic teams have been exhuming victims of Peru’s 1980-2000 internal conflict since 2006, recovering 2,925 sets of remains and identifying 1,689 by official count.
A truth commission found that some 70,000 died in the conflict.
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