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On November 15, 2019, Bolivian security forces blocked, gassed, and shot protesters at the Huayllani bridge in Sacaba. Today's #GIEIBolivia report ratifies that this was a massacre. It also describes a day that was worse than generally reported… 🧵Permalink On twitter.com
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The beginning and end of the crackdown in Sacaba have been known since it happened: Police blocked marchers from advancing to Cochabamba. Soldiers shot scores of them, killing ten (include whose wounds finally overcame him months later).Permalink On twitter.com
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On the day of the shooting, the Áñez government—starting with Min. Jerjes Justianiano—invented the lie that the protesters had shot one another. That argument is demolished by the #GIEIReport.Permalink On twitter.com
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The Harvard Human Rights Law Clinic compiled abundant testimonial evidence of the day, refuting the government lies and laying out an escalating pattern of state violence. hrp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Black-November-English-Final_Accessible.pdfPermalink On twitter.com
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Today's #GIEIBolivia report affirms a more detailed sequence: —Police opened fire w/ tear gas unprovoked —Police fired gas directly at the bodies of protesters —Police first fired gas, then metal shot (balínes), then live ammunitionOn twitter.com
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The GIEI shared details about César Sipe, who was filming before he was fatally shot. The ballistic trajectory of his shooting corresponds with the known location of armed armed soldiers shooting.Permalink On twitter.com
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The GIEI investigated public claims that protesters fired on the police. "It cannot be affirmed that there was an armed confrontation between demonstrators and police or soldiers. …Permalink On twitter.com
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“We cannot rule out the possibility that … an isolated demonstrator carried a firearm and fired. Nevertheless, no source of evidence was identified to confirm that hypothesis. All available evidence indicates the unilater use of lethal force by … Police & Armed Forces.” (203)Permalink On twitter.com
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The GIEI suggests an interpretation of the hours-long sequence of violence: It was an attack on people in retreat, and deadly force was not applied to stop them from advancing. (204)Permalink On twitter.com
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No one was shot on the main road, and many not in direct line of sight of the Huayllani bridge where the stand off had begun. It was soldiers actively pursuing them who began to fire.Permalink On twitter.com
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There is no full list of those injured at Sacaba, but the GIEI identified 98, documented cases of 56. 36 of those 56 received live ammunition wounds. Four people shot with balines (metal shot) required surgery. Beatings and teargas candisters caused serious injuriesPermalink On twitter.com
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Numerous bullet wounds had both entry and exit wounds, both among the dead and the wounded. The GIEI concluded that high-velocity firearms were used. Again the sites of the wounded reflects an aggressive pursuit.Permalink On twitter.com
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Per testimony, government troops both fired upon people giving aid to wounded fellow demonstrators and interfered with ambulances.Permalink On twitter.com
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After the massacre, 223 were held in detention by the police. Testimonies speak of humiliation, torture, and teargassing within a jail cell. Some effort was made to stage photos of prisoners with firearms.Permalink On twitter.com
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Clarifying: I should have tweeted "No one was shot *dead* on the main road" as you can see from the two maps of where people were killed, injured.Permalink On twitter.com
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Analysis: Where Sacaba massacre fits in a long history of overkill by Bolivian security forces @CarwilBJ/1427839628317495308Permalink On twitter.com