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B. Activities, operations, functioning and oversight of private security companies in Peru

40. The privatization of security has expanded enormously since the 1990s because the Government does not seem to have increased police numbers. Peru has about 92,000 police for a population of 28 million, ^[29] which is insufficient, and it is for that reason that private security firms are authorized. In many cases, these companies are run by former members of the Armed Forces or the Police, or they occupy senior positions. Peru also seems to experience the “revolving door” syndrome whereby, when they retire, members of the military and police are hired by private security companies or start their own. The Ministry of the Interior apparently authorizes these companies to hire off-duty police officers to protect buildings; the officer’s weapon is the property of the police, not of the company.

41. A municipal citizen-protection system, known as the serenazgo or local watch, has also developed and is paid for out of residents’ taxes. Watchmen are hired to patrol the district or municipality, but off-duty police officers may also be hired to work with them. These workers are very vulnerable in labour terms and earn very little (around US$ 150 per month). Any action by the watchmen, such as an arrest, must have the approval of a police officer, and should be taken when the police officer is working with the watchman. However, there are cases where such action is taken without a police officer present.

42. Reports were received of the death of a Spaniard, killed and robbed by a watchman. Moreover, of the 69 attacks on transvestites, transgenders or transsexuals investigated by Runa in 2006, 52 were committed by watchmen. ^[30] Because local taxes vary from municipality to municipality, the rich ones have better protection, which is against the universal principle of non‑discrimination in the right to security. In addition, the lack of any overall civic security policy means that each of Peru’s 1,600 districts has a different strategy. The State is thus abdicating its duty to protect its citizens.

43. Another problem is the guachimanes, a form of private security provided by individuals acting as guards who protect a residential area by surrounding the houses or preventing free passage to carry out checks. This is a violation of the right to freedom of movement. At the same time, in marginalized districts residents organize their own protection, frequently taking the law into their own hands.

44. There are around 100,000 private individuals offering security services: 50,000 private vigilantes and a further 50,000 casual guachimanes, ^[31] who are badly exploited. Their labour rights are violated: instead of an 8-hour day they are required to work a 12-hour day, with 6 hours off the following day and a wage of US$ 50 a month and no social security. It is their exploitative working conditions that explain guachimanes ’ aggressive behaviour.

45. In addition, transnational natural resource extraction companies operating in very deserted spots with little or no police presence have their own private security systems.

46. The peasant patrols, first set up in Cajamarca in the 1980s, are another form of private security arrangement. The Peasant Patrols Act (No. 27908), of 2003, “authorizes such associations to provide security services in their villages, peacefully resolve conflicts in accordance with local custom, actively involve themselves in their villages’ development and monitor the local authorities and watch over public property”. ^[32] These are groups of some 20 to 60 people from the same village who gather at night to watch over their animals and protect them. They are not armed but carry shepherds’ staffs, ropes and whips. They perform policing tasks and administer justice and have apparently had some success in the absence of State services. They operate in some 14 regions of Peru. Clashes have been reported between peasant patrols and mining companies’ private security companies.

47. There are also Civil Self-Defence Committees, made up of paramilitaries who collude with the Armed Forces, operating in Cuzco and the central region of Peru and with more than 50,000 members.