Dany Quispe and Ruth Barcena, who lost their son and husband respectively during different demonstrations, attend a press conference with Amnesty International representatives in Lima, Peru, on 16 February 2023. Credit: Cris Bouroncle/AFP/Getty Images

(CNN Spanish) -- Peru's security forces carried out widespread attacks on protesters with "extrajudicial executions" and "widespread use of lethal munitions" earlier this year, as they tried to contain mass protests that began in December 2022, according to Amnesty International.

The human rights group investigated the deaths of 25 people who lost their lives in the regions of Ayacucho, Apurimac and Puno between December 7, 2022 and February 9, 2023. In total, 49 civilians were killed during the protests.

Peruvian Army soldiers stand guard in the main square of the central Andean city of Ayacucho on December 15, 2022, following the declaration of a national state of emergency. Credit: Javier Adlemar/AFP/Getty Images

According to Amnesty International's report, many of the victims were under the age of 21, and six children were among the documented cases.

The Andean country's weeks-long protest movement was triggered by the impeachment and detention of former President Pedro Castillo in December and fueled by deep discontent over living conditions and inequality in the country.

Although protests took place across the country, the greatest violence was recorded in the rural and indigenous south, which saw Castillo's ouster as another attempt by Peru's coastal elites to belittle them.

According to Amnesty, during the period documented, the country's armed forces and national police used lethal force, such as bullets and prohibited weapons in police tasks, such as pellets, "illegitimately."

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Less lethal force, such as tear gas, was also used in an "excessive, disproportionate and sometimes unnecessary" manner, according to the report.

Residents of Uros and Taquile islands in Lake Titicaca, bordering Bolivia, protest in the city of Puno, Peru, on January 24.
Credit: Juan Carlos Cisneros/AFP/Getty Images

Authorities in Peru said the country's security forces acted in self-defense. However, according to evidence collected by Amnesty International, the injuries that caused the 25 deaths "occurred in parts of the body where they are most likely to be fatal, which would indicate that they were not random shooting, but intentional".

"In none of the cases was there evidence that the deceased person posed a risk to the life or integrity of the officials," the report says.

"In several cases the deceased, as well as the injured, were mere observers or bystanders," the report concludes.

Extrajudicial executions and young victims

Of the 25 deaths documented by Amnesty International, at least 20 are considered extrajudicial executions. Fifteen of those victims were under the age of 21, according to the report.

The first known fatality during the protests was a 15-year-old boy, David Atequipe, who was shot in the back while observing protests outside the Andahuaylas airport in the Apurimac region on December 11, according to the autopsy report documented by Amnesty.

Another 15-year-old, Christopher Ramos Aime, was shot a few days later while crossing the highway in Ayacucho on December 15. Ramos worked at the local cemetery near the airport, cleaning graves and headstones and helping visitors with flowers.

According to the autopsy seen by Amnesty International and evidence gathered by the group, Ramos died from a "firearm projectile" that caused chest trauma. Ramos was not armed and posed no threat to security forces, the organization concludes.

"They killed innocent people, my son was innocent, he was crossing the road when he was shot," Hilaria Aime, Christopher's mother, told CNN through tears Wednesday.

Aime hopes his family can find justice following the report's release, adding that protesters and their communities have often been unfairly demonized by Peruvian authorities.

"We hope that justice is done and people respect us, they are calling us terrorists, vandals and that is not the truth of what happened in Ayacucho."

CNN has not verified the circumstances of these deaths as described in Amnesty's report.

Dany Quispe and Ruth Barcena, who lost their son and husband respectively during different demonstrations, attend a press conference with Amnesty International representatives in Lima, Peru, on 16 February 2023. Cris
Bouroncle/AFP/Getty Images

Amnesty also mentions the death of Beckhan Romario Quispe Garfias, an 18-year-old soccer coach who was shot in the head in Andahuaylas, Apurimac region, in December. CNN previously reported on his case.

As CNN previously reported, Amnesty also maintains that attacks on protesters were carried out "with a marked racist bias" in southern Peru, where protesters faced a more violent response from security forces, leaving dozens dead.

Similar protests took place in Lima, Peru's capital, but only one death tolled.

Response and narrative of the government of Peru

In this final report, Amnesty International notes that Peruvian authorities, including Peru's President Dina Boluarte and the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (PCM), praised the country's security forces during the protests and "consistently supported and justified the actions of law enforcement, despite increasingly clear evidence of their illegal actions."

"In addition, the state narrative stigmatized protesters as terrorists and violent, fueling the escalation of violence and encouraging law enforcement to continue acting in the same way," the report said.

Authorities at the highest level failed to hold the armed forces and police accountable, despite "substantial evidence" pointing to security forces being responsible for the dozens of deaths, Amnesty also said.

Boluarte speaks during a meeting with the foreign press, in Lima, Peru, on January 24. Credit:
Angela Ponce/Reuters

In a recent interview with a local media outlet and in the face of criticism for the way her government has handled the protests, President Boluarte said that she and her ministers do not decide the protocols of the Armed Forces or the Police.

"They have their own law, but also their own protocols. Whom do they obey? To your commands. We have no command. I can be the supreme head of the Armed Forces, but I have no command, the protocols are decided by them," Boluarte said.

CNN contacted the president's office, which declined to comment on the report's findings. He also contacted Peru's Ministries of Defense and Interior. Both ministries told CNN in February that they could not comment until the ongoing investigation by the Attorney General's Office was completed.

Peru's Attorney General's Office opened a preliminary investigation on January 10 against President Boluarte, Peruvian Prime Minister Alberto Otarola, and other ministers for alleged genocide, homicide, and grievous bodily harm committed during the protests.

On Wednesday, Boluarte's office told CNN en Español that the president was invited to testify before the Attorney General's Office on May 31.

Peru's Attorney General's Office was also criticized in this final report for failing to conduct criminal investigations related to the protest deaths in a "prompt, thorough, and impartial" manner. CNN reached out to the U.S. Attorney's Office for comment.

Amnesty InternationalProtests in Latin America