Barrios Altos massacre The Barrios Altos massacre took place on 3 November 1991 , in the Barrios Altos neighborhood of Lima , Peru . Fifteen people , including an eight - year - old child , were killed , and four more injured , by assailants who were later determined to be members of " Grupo Colina , " a death squad made up of members of the Peruvian Armed Forces . The victims were partygoers , mistaken for Shining Path ( " Sendero Luminoso " ) rebels , a Maoist organization . The murders became a symbol of the human rights violations committed during the presidency of Alberto Fujimori ( 28 July 28 , 1990 – 22 November 2000 ) . The case was taken to the Inter - American Court of Human Rights . In August 2001 , in conformance with the judgment of the Inter - American Court , the Peruvian government agreed to pay $ 3 . 3 million in compensation to the victims and families . The case was also part of the material reviewed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission ( Peru ) after the fall of the Fujimori government in 2000 . The Barrios Altos massacre was one of the crimes for which Fujimori was extradited from Chile to Peru on 20 September 2007 . The killings at Barrios Altos were cited in the request for his extradition submitted by the Peruvian government to Japan in 2003 . Background . Peru had been struggling to control the rebellion by the group known as Shining Path . For more than a decade , they had committed acts of terrorism against government officials , community leaders and innocent bystanders : assassinations , car bomb ings and other violence . Massacre . On the evening of 3 November 1991 , a neighborhood barbecue was being held at 840 Jirón Huanta to collect funds to repair the building . People from the community were gathered on the first floor . At approximately 23 : 30 , six heavily armed individuals burst into the building . They had arrived in two vehicles , found to have been stolen . These were said to be equipped with police lights and sirens , which were turned off when they reached the location . The assailants , who were said to range from 25 to 30 years of age , had their faces covered with balaclava masks and ordered the victims to lie on the floor . They fired at them for about two minutes , killing 15 , including an eight year - old boy , and seriously wounding another four . One of the injured was permanently disabled . The assailants quickly fled in their vehicles , sounding their sirens as they left . During their investigation , the police found 111 cartridges and 33 bullets of the same caliber at the scene . They determined the assailants had used sub - machine guns equipped with silencers . Aftermath . Judicial investigations and newspaper reports revealed that those involved worked for military intelligence ; they were members of the " Grupo Colina " , which was known for conducting an anti - terrorist program including direct attacks on suspects . The assailants appeared to have intended to attack a meeting of Shining Path rebels , which was being held at the same time on the second floor of the same building . Several weeks later , Congress convened an investigation committee to look into the massacre . In December , the Committee conducted an inspection of the building where the events took place , interviewed four people and performed other tasks . It was unable to complete its investigation , because of Fujimori ' s " palace coup " on 5 April 5 , 1992 , in which he dissolved Congress . The Democratic Constitutional Congress elected in its place in November 1992 did not take up the investigation again nor publish the senatorial committee ' s preliminary findings . Amnesty . Judicial authorities were unable to launch a serious investigation of the incident until April 1995 , at which time the military courts responded by filing a petition before the Supreme Court for jurisdiction over the case . Before the Court ruled on the petition , the case was effectively closed by Congress ' passage of law No . 26479 , which granted a general amnesty to all those members of the security forces and civilians who were the subject of a complaint , investigation , indictment , trial or conviction , or who were serving prison sentences , for human rights violations committed after May 1980 . Prior to the amnesty law being passed , investigations had revealed compromising information . In May 1993 , and again in January 1995 , some officers from the Peruvian army stated publicly that members of Grupo Colina were responsible for the Barrios Altos massacre . The officers also stated that the head of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces and of the National Intelligence Service ( SIN ) had full knowledge of the massacre . Inter - American Court of Human Rights . Advocates , survivors and victims ' relatives filed a suit in the Inter - American Court of Human Rights against the Peruvian government for violation of human rights . Established in 1979 by the Organization of American States ( OAS ) , the court made its judgment of 14 March 2001 , finding that the government was in the wrong and ordering compensation be paid to the victims . Because the Peruvian government underwent a change in administration that year , the court agreed to postpone signing the settlement agreement until a new government was elected and had taken office . Case reopened . After the fall of the Fujimori government in 2000 , Congress repealed the Amnesty Law . The Barrios Altos case was reopened , and a number of suspects were taken into legal custody . On 21 March 2001 , the Peruvian Attorney General Nelly Calderón presented charges against Fujimori in Congress , accusing him of being a " co - author " of the massacre . She presented evidence that Fujimori , acting in concert with Vladimiro Montesinos , head of the SIN , exercised control over Grupo Colina . The charges allege that the group could not have committed crimes of this magnitude without Fujimori ' s express orders or consent , and that the formation and functioning of the Colina group was part of an overall counter - insurgency policy that involved systematic violations of human rights . According to the report , Fujimori went to SIN headquarters to celebrate with intelligence officers after the massacre took place . As a result of the August 2001 ruling of the Inter - American Court of Human Rights of the OAS , which had heard the case , the government of Peru agreed to pay USD $ 3 . 3 million in compensation to the four survivors and the relatives of the fifteen people murdered . It waited until the new government had been elected to sign the ruling later that year . On 13 September 2001 , Supreme Court Justice José Luis Lecaros issued an international warrant to Interpol for the arrest of Fujimori , then living in Japan . In August 2003 , the Peruvian government submitted a request for the extradition of Fujimori from Japan ; among the crimes it cited was the Barrios Altos massacre . Initially Japan had resisted extradition because Fujimori ' s parents had emigrated to Peru from Japan and it considered him a national of Japan . Its laws prohibited extradition of nationals ; in addition , Japan and Peru did not then have an extradition agreement . Peru finally gained his extradition when Fujimori traveled to Chile . He was tried and convicted for his role in the massacre .