Peruvian prison massacres

On June 18–19, 1986, prisoners rioted at the Lurigancho, Santa Bárbara (Santa Mónica women's prison), and El Frontón prisons in Lima and Callao, Peru. The military and police response to these riots resulted in at least 224 to 300 deaths, according to Wikipedia's account of the events.

The riots occurred during the presidency of Alan García, who had taken office in 1985 pledging to reduce human rights violations tied to the state's campaign against the Shining Path insurgency. Despite this stated aim, his government authorized a forceful retaking of the prisons. The riots began around 6:00 AM on June 18, 1986, with prisoners at San Juan de Lurigancho, El Frontón, and Santa Mónica taking guards and three journalists hostage and demanding the release of 500 people imprisoned on terrorism charges. An emergency cabinet meeting was held that morning, and by early afternoon the Minister of the Interior, Abel Salinas, warned that the prisons would be retaken by force if prisoners did not surrender. The same day, the Shining Path carried out a separate wave of attacks in Lima resulting in several deaths.

A government negotiating commission arrived at El Frontón in the late afternoon but failed to reach a resolution. At 6:00 PM the order was given to assault the prisons. The Republican Guard retook Santa Mónica within about two hours, with two deaths recorded. Just after midnight on June 19, the Peruvian Navy led an assault on El Frontón island prison, encountering protest from the prison's director, a judge, and the public prosecutor over the Navy's intervention. Three Navy personnel died in the initial assault; a subsequent attack by Naval Infantry on the "Blue Ward," where Shining Path members were held, resulted in the deaths of three more members of the armed forces, one hostage, and 135 prisoners. At Lurigancho prison, a joint Republican Guard and Army operation used explosives and heavy weapons against barricaded prisoners; after the guerrillas surrendered around 3:00 AM, most of the dead were found to have been executed with a shot to the back of the neck.

A U.S. State Department cable stated that at least 100 prisoners were summarily executed. The Peruvian government itself later concluded that all 124 rebellious prisoners at Lurigancho died, with no fewer than 90 determined to be victims of extrajudicial execution. The events generated significant national and international outrage. President García, visiting the scene, stated that either those responsible would go or he would, but no one was ultimately punished for the killings. Luis Giampietri, the naval officer who commanded the El Frontón operation, later became García's vice president. Congress approved an ad-hoc inquiry commission in August 1986, though disputes over its composition delayed its formation until August 1987; the resulting 13-member commission became split between factions critical of and loyal to the government, per Wikipedia.