‘Wall of Shame’ in Peru will 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”. A citizen filed a case in 2018 to have the 10-kilometer wall, which stands two metres tall and is covered with barbed wire on top, removed.

The wall became known as the “Wall of Shame.” The first section of the wall was built in the 1980s under the guise of protecting La Molina’s affluent neighbourhood from the Shining Path guerrilla group, which is classified as a terrorist organisation in Peru.

After the group was defeated in the 2000s, the authorities extended the wall under the guise of preventing illegal land occupation. Peru experienced massive migration to the capital from Andean areas in the 1980s and 1990s, resulting in massive settlement on the hills on Lima’s outskirts. Thousands of people fled the Shining Path’s violence, while others came in search of 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.