Peru: Telmo Hurtado admits Accomarca killings

This week, Peruvian former army office Telmo Hurtado, who was extradited from the US last year, admitted his role in the 1985 Accomarca massacre.

To be specific, Hurtado, also known under the charming nickname "Butcher of the Andes", admitted 31 of the around 70 murders. He claimed that "the persons executed were terrorists captured in the course of military action". But then, this is a person who believes that two and three year olds can be terrorists. Yes, you read that right. Cronica Viva quotes a hearing conducted by a government commission with Hurtado in 1985, just after Accomarca. The discussion went as follows:

Do you think that the ideological training affects them all?

TH: They start training them when they are very young.

From what age would you consider them dangerous?

TH: They start indoctrinating them when they are two years old, three, four, it just goes on.

This point about needing to eliminate them, even though they are children, did you read that in some manual?

TH: No, I didn't read it in a manual. Usually the children were killed as part of the operation we were taking part in out there. You don't see if it's a woman, child or an old person who's running. [...] You can't measure if a child is a dangerous element. You don't know. It could be carrying dynamite or a concealed weapon. You don't know.

Para Hurtado niños de 2 y 3 años de edad eran terroristas (Cronica Viva)
‘Butcher of the Andes’ Telmo Hurtado Admits Role in Peru's 'Accomarca Massacre' (International Business Times)
Telmo Hurtado admite responsabilidad en unas 30 ejecuciones (Terra Peru)