In 1994, Peru was one of our two largest operations in Latin America (alongside Colombia). We had been in the country since 1969, working on behalf of detainees held in connection with political violence following the coup d’état in 1968 that left the army in charge. Peru returned to civilian rule in 1980, but the country was soon plagued by insurgency-related violence involving the two main opposition groups, Shining Path and the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA). In 1993 and early 1994, the unrest was particularly acute in the Upper Huallaga Valley, the Ucayali region and the jungle areas of Junin department. The government had arrested various leaders of the armed groups in 1992 and continued to arrest group members in an effort to weaken the opposition. By the end of 1994, advances by government forces brought peace to much of the country. A lot of the ICRC’s work until then was on detention-related matters, which our teams carried out from our delegation, three subdelegations and nine offices – including the one in Tocache, where Nelly worked. We also provided medical assistance in the form of supplies and services to detainees, and to civilians through local hospitals and first-aid posts. Significant volumes of relief materials went to people directly affected by the violence, including widows, orphans and displaced people; this assistance included food, blankets, clothing, tools and kitchen utensils. Spurred on by repeated allegations of violations of international humanitarian law (IHL), we held an average of 30 IHL awareness-raising sessions per month, reaching over 25,500 people in 1994 alone. Our tracing staff were kept busy registering and keeping track of detainees and sending news to their families. They also handled requests to locate people who went missing in the context of the ongoing violence.