Naval postgraduate school monterey, california thesis

B. 
DETAILED CASE STUDY 
On 17 December 1996, members of the Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac 
Amaru (MRTA) assaulted the Japanese Ambassador’s (Morihisa Aoki) residence in 
Lima, Peru, taking hostage over 700 of its guests. On 22 April 1997, a rescue operation 
was launched by Peruvian counterterrorist forces killing all 14 MRTA terrorists including 
the group’s leader, Néstor Cerpa, and successfully rescuing 71 of the 72 hostages. The 
operation effectively ended a 126-day siege, and it remains one of the most successful 
rescue operations ever staged, a template for future rescue attempts. 
The Japanese Ambassador to Peru, Morihisa Aoki, and his wife, had organized a 
party at their residence to commemorate Japanese Emperor Akihito’s 63
rd
birthday, with 
an expected attendance of over 1,000 of Peru’s most distinguished dignitaries and 
government officials. By 1900 hours on 17 December 1996, the Japanese Ambassador 
began receiving invited guests and by 2000 hours, there were more than 700 people 

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inside the residence. Meanwhile, 14 MRTA members hidden in an ambulance had 
entered the traffic security perimeter around the residence and claimed they were 
responding to an emergency call nearby. Three PNP vehicles were parked at this 
intersection of Marconi Street and the Italian Clinic; one lets the ambulance go through 
without any proper checks. The back of the ambulance was filled with explosives, 
weapons, and ammunition used during the initial entry and during the assault. The 
MRTA members parked the ambulance at the German Service of Social-Technical 
Cooperation house, approximately 300 meters from the intersection. At this house, two 
MRTA members talk to a guard and tell him they are responding to a call from someone 
inside the house. The guard tells the MRTA that there was no emergency and that no one 
had called for an ambulance. The MRTA member acknowledges and asks the guard to 
sign some paperwork to ensure that no one had called for an ambulance and that they had 
responded as standard procedure. While the guard signed the fake documents, the 
MRTA members subdued him and occupied the house in preparation for their next 
planned phase.
Security at the residence and the immediate areas was normal for an event of this 
type in Peru: eight traffic police officers from the PNP were located at the four 
corners/intersections to the residence, with the task of checking identification and 
matching personnel with a guest list. Two PNP motorcycles were constantly circling the 
perimeter and a special purpose truck from the Unidad de Explosivos (UDEX - Peruvian 
explosives deactivation unit) was parked near the residence parking lot, checking 
vehicles. Outside of the residence there were over 50 private bodyguards. Eight security 
members for the Japanese Ambassador’s residence (Peruvian and Japanese) were at the 
main entrance checking guests and processing personnel through a magnetron (metal 
detector). At approximately 1945 hours, the U.S. Ambassador to Peru—Dennis Jett—
and the Israeli Ambassador—Joel Salpak—depart the residence, each for a separate 
engagement, unaware of the planned MRTA attack about to occur.
At 2023 hours, a loud explosion is heard behind the residence; everyone inside the 
residence believes it is a car bomb and runs for cover inside the residence. In a 
counterproductive move, security personnel immediately lock all entrances to the 
residence, leaving cordon security and VIP bodyguards outside, and locking everyone 

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else inside with the assaulting terrorists. The MRTA terrorists had blown a 5’ x 4’ hole 
in the back of the adjoining wall that divide the residence with the MRTA occupied 
home. The breach site is about 25 yards from the front wall (northeast corner) along the 
east side common wall. The MRTA terrorists immediately enter the residence grounds, 
firing their weapons into the air, shouting orders and MRTA slogans. The guests assume 
erroneously that the terrorists are cops who had come to their aid. This illusion quickly 
vanishes when they notice MRTA red and white handkerchiefs covering the MRTA 
terrorists’ faces, and their mixed uniforms and equipment. The security personnel and 
guests now realize that the safest place for them is outside of the residence. By 2030 
hours, members of the Sub-Unidad de Acciones Tácticas (SUAT - special tactics police), 
UDEX, and anti-riot units were mobilized, and immediately become engaged in a raging 
gun battle with the terrorists. All the guests remained lying face down on the floor of the 
residence, trying to stay out of a hail of bullets.
At the entrance of the residence, the Japanese residence Foreign Security Officer 
(FSN), Nicolás Tenya Hasegawa, was trapped inside a guard shack with seven other 
security members. For the next 10 minutes or so, they were under constant machine gun 
fire from the terrorists inside the residence. They remained inside this shack until 
approximately 0200 hours, when they finally escaped through a small window that led to 
the outside of the residence (phone interview with Nicolás Tenya Hasegawa, Foreign 
Security Officer for Japanese Residence, on 25 September 2003).
At approximately 2100 hours, the order is given for the PNP to commence firing 
tear gas into the residence, hoping it would bring out the MRTA terrorists. The MRTA 
immediately don their gas masks and try to control the chaos that ensues inside the 
residence with the panicking hostages. More than 600 hostages try to cover their faces 
with whatever they can find. The Japanese Ambassador, Morihisa Aoki, picked up a 
megaphone and tried to tell the police forces to stop shooting into the residence.
Afterwards, Michel Minnig, International Red Cross representative, takes the megaphone 
from the Ambassador and begs the police to stop the erratic firing of tear gas and bullets, 
which were endangering everyone inside the residence.

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PNP General Ketín Vidal and the Minister of Interior General Juan Briones 
Dávila show up at the security perimeter to try and take control of the situation and by 
2130 hours, the firing stops; 14 MRTA terrorists were now in full control of the 
residence. Only one of the terrorists, Edgard Cruz Sánchez (a.k.a. “Tito”), was injured, 
struck by a bullet in his right leg from his own Kalashnikov (AKM) weapon.
At 2135 hours, the first telephonic communication was established with the 
terrorist leader known as “Comandante Huertas” (Néstor Cerpa Cartolini). He issues a 
series of demands directed at the government of Peru, to include the release of more than 
450 MRTA prisoners around the country. Of his own accord, Michel Minnig 
immediately begins to negotiate with Néstor Cerpa for the release of all women and 
elderly people. He proves to be instrumental in the development and resolution of the 
crisis as an official intermediary throughout the complete hostage crisis.
At approximately 2145 hours, the first of two groups of female hostages are 
released. Unbeknownst to the terrorists, the mother and the sister of President Alberto 
Fujimori walked out with these two groups. This marked the MRTA’s first major 
blunder of many to follow throughout the crisis. The son of President Fujimori, Pedro 
Fujimori, remained inside and would remain hostage until the end of the crisis. The 
process of releasing the female and elderly hostages continues until midnight. After the 
women and elderly were released, the MRTA terrorists decide to release all 20 waiters 
and staff helpers from the party. The Peruvian Navy Commander Rodolfo Reátegui 
(President Fujimori’s Aide), wearing only underwear and covering himself with a curtain, 
tries to mix in with the waiters as they leave. Several terrorists shoot at him, but no one 
is injured. Néstor Cerpa threatens to kill anyone else that attempts a similar stunt.
Afterwards, the terrorists begin to identify all remaining hostages and move them to 
specific rooms around the residence for ease of control. The hostages are separated 
according to their jobs and duties: 150 hostages were placed on the first floor of the 
residence, and the remaining 231 on the second floor. The most important hostages are 
placed on the second floor: congressional representatives, military leaders, state 
representatives, ambassadors, ministers, and Japanese businesspersons. A lone camera 
operator from