DiezCanseco Javier

Peruvian politician and member of the Peruvian Congress representing the Socialist Party of Peru (PDD), of which he was a founding President. Born into a wealthy family, in his first year of life Diez Canseco was afflicted with polio, which left him with a permanent limp in his left leg. He has credited his experiences with his disability as having helped him to come to understand inequality and injustice. In December 1996, he was one those taken captive by Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) guerrillas in the Japanese embassy hostage crisis in Lima, but was released after several days. He subsequently called for a negotiated peace settlement between the government and the MRTA insurgents. From 2002 to 2006, he was chairperson of the National Congress Special Studies Commission on Disabilities in Peru, which developed legislative initiatives, public policies, and advocacy for increased state attention to the issues of people with disabilities. One of the most significant Peruvian laws addressing disability -the General Law on People with Disabibilites, enacted in December 2012- was drafted with his aid. He was also involved in investigations of human rights violations committed by both the Shining Path and the Peruvian Armed Forces during Perus 1980-1992 internal armed conflict -including the 1985 Accomarca massacre-, and was repeatedly subjected to death threats by both sides involved in the violence. In early February 2013, Diez Canseco revealed that he was suffering from pancreatic cancer, for which he had been hospitalized since late January. He died on 4 May 2013 at age 65 in Lima. Link to Wikipedia biography Read less