Operation Chavín de Huantar

Operation Chavín de Huantar
Part of the Internal conflict in Peru
Date April 22, 1997 Location Japanese embassy in Lima Result Peruvian decisive victory
Belligerents
Military of Peru	Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement
Commanders and leaders
Alberto Fujimori Juan Valer Sandoval†	Néstor Cerpa Cartolini†
Strength
142 Peruvian commandos 72 Peruvian and Japanese hostages	14 MRTA terrorists
Casualties and losses
two commandos killed one Peruvian hostage killed	all terrorists killed

Operation Chavín de Huantar was a military operation in which a team of one hundred and forty-two commandos of the Peruvian Armed Forces ended the 1997 Japanese embassy hostage crisis by raiding the Japanese ambassador's residence and freeing the hostages held there by the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA).

It is said that President Alberto Fujimori himself came up with the name Chavín de Huantar for the operation because to make the incursion possible tunnels were to be dug under the ambassador's residence from adjacent buildings. Chavín de Huantar is an archeological site in the central highlands of Peru which is famous for its underground passageways.

The rescue operation was prepared and exercised in a embassy exact replica located in a military base; there the comandos practiced every detail of the operation, including the weight of the explosion to be used to open the floor of the embassy.

During the course of the assault on 22 April 1997, two commandos, one hostage, and all fourteen of the rebels died. The success of the operation was tainted by subsequent claims - by just one Japanese witness - that at least three and possibly eight of the rebels had been summarily executed by the commandos after surrendering. However, it is fair to say that it is very difficult for someone to see something in the middle of the rescue, because of the smoke and explosion occurring everywhere. This accusation was done in the middle of the political prosecution to the fujimorista party by Alejandro Toledo, by them president of Peru. In 2002, the case was taken up by public prosecutors, but the Peruvian Supreme Court ruled that the military tribunals had jurisdiction. A military court later absolved them of guilt, and the "Chavín de Huantar" soldiers led the 2004 military parade. In response, MRTA family members filed suit in 2003 at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) accusing the Peruvian state of human rights violations, namely that the MRTA rebels had been denied "right to life, the right to judicial guarantees and the right to judicial protection". The CIDH accepted the case and is currently studying it.[1]

Alan García, president of Peru, ruled that every April 22, the country will commemorate the day of "military valorous actions", in honor of the Operacion Chavin de Huantar, considered one of the most successful military rescue in the world. [2]