Peru’s 'Wall of Shame' to be demolished, after court rules it discriminatory

The Constitutional Court in Peru ordered that the wall, which separates Lima’s rich neighbourhood from the poor, should be demolished, calling it "discriminatory”.In 2018, a citizen had filed a case for removing the 10-kilometre wall, which has a height of two metres and is covered with barbed wire on the top. The wall was nicknamed the "Wall of Shame."

In the 1980s, the wall’s first section was erected with the excuse that it is meant to protect La Molina’s affluent neighborhood from the Shining Path guerrilla group, which is identified as a terrorist group in Peru.

ALSO READ| Peru: Finance minister launches $1.6 billion economic reactivation plan

Add WION as a Preferred Source

In the 2000s, after the group was defeated, the authorities further extended the wall under the pretext of preventing illegal land occupation.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Peru witnessed major migration to the capital from Andean areas which resulted in massive settlement onthe hills on Lima’s outskirts. Thousands of people ran away from violence unleashed by Shining Path, while others came in search for work.

"We have made a unanimous decision, that the wall that separates La Molina and Villa Maria del Triunfo (an impoverished neighborhood) has to be torn down," said Judge Gustavo Gutierrez on Thursday, while speaking to RPP radio.

WATCH| Peru declares nationwide state of emergency amid protests

"It's a discriminatory wall... It can't be that we divide Peruvians by social classes. That is unacceptable, it is no longer happening anywhere in the world," the judge added. A deadline of 180 days has been set by the court for the demolition of the wall.

(With inputs from agencies)