COMMITTEE ISSUES APPEAL FOR HUGO BLANCO
[The U.S. Committee for Justice to Latin American Political Prisoners issued the following press release in New York November 11.]
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In 1963, the wife and daughter of a peasant organizer were raped by the local landowner and a reign of terror was unleashed against those who protested. Blanco and a commission of 25 men were authorized by the union to investigate. Attacked by local police when they entered the town, the men defended themselves and three rural police were killed.
In jail for three years without trial, Blanco, a civilian, was tried before a military tribunal and sentenced to 25 years in the notorious El Frontén prison on September 8, 1966. This week, November 12, the Supreme Council of Military Justice in Lima, Peru, the only and last court of appeal, will rehear his case. The prosecution is demanding the death penalty, because despite Blanco's three years in jail his case has substantial popular support.
The case has attracted the attention of intellectuals in France and the United States. From France, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, the actress Simone Signoret, and the late André Breton were among the signers of a clemency petition in Blanco's behalf. In the United States over 400 scholars at a socialist conference in New York signed a petition asking President Belatinde Terry to grant amnesty. Among the signers were Albert Schweitzer, Professor of Humanities at N.Y.U.; Harvey Swados, author; Isaac Deutscher; and Conner Cruise O'Brien.
The U.S. Committee for Justice to Latin American Political Prisoners has sent telegrams to President Terry and to the Supreme Council reminding them of the recent concern shown for Blanco in the United States and France. The Committee urges individuals and groups concerned with civil liberties to send letters and wires of protest to President Belatinde Terry and to the Consejo Supremo de Justicia Militar in Lima, Peru. Copies should be sent to Hugo Blanco's attorney, Dr. Alfredo Battilana, Av. Nicola de Pierola, 966; Oficina 215; Lima, Peru.