A delegation of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), visiting Peru, held a meeting on Thursday with the ousted president Pedro Castillo, who remains in preventive detention for 18 months.

Lima, December 23 (RHC)-- A delegation of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), visiting Peru, held a meeting on Thursday with the ousted president Pedro Castillo, who remains in preventive detention for 18 months.

Pedro Castillo, who was removed from the presidency of the country by Congress on December 7th and accused of the alleged crime of rebellion, had requested an urgent meeting with the IACHR delegation on Wednesday night.

The delegates, headed by the executive secretary of the inter-American organization, Tania Reneaum, met with Castillo on Thursday morning.  The Peruvian Ombudsman's Office published a message on its Twitter account in which it stated: "We accompanied the technical team of the IACHR on a visit to the Barbadillo prison where (former) President Pedro Castillo is being held."

Wilfredo Robles, Castillo's lawyer, denounced that he was not alerted by the penitentiary authorities, but said that prison guards confirmed that the meeting took place on Thursday morning.  Robles warned that the ousted president "is incommunicado.  There is no access to telephones, no access to TV news or to newspapers."

The IACHR mission arrived on December 20th in Peru to document the crisis the country is experiencing as a result of Castillo's dismissal.  The protests that arose to demand the reinstatement of the former president have been repressed with a toll of at least 27 dead and dozens of injured and detained.