Amnesty International Report 2004 - Peru

Covering events from January - December 2003

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission presented its final report to the President. "Anti-terrorism" legislation, which had rendered all trials unfair since 1992, was ruled unconstitutional and reforms were introduced. Scores of prisoners of conscience remained in jail. Prison conditions remained harsh.

Background

Opinion polls continued to reveal widespread public discontent with government economic policies. According to the Peruvian Institute of Statistics, over half the population was living in poverty.

A 30-day state of emergency was declared in May in response to nationwide strikes and protests by the teachers' union and other unions demanding higher salaries. The state of emergency restricted the rights to personal security and freedom of movement and assembly, and allowed the authorities to enter a home without a search warrant. In the department of Puno scores of protesters against the state of emergency clashed with security forces. One student died and scores were injured reportedly in circumstances suggesting that the security forces used excessive force to disperse protesters.

The post of Ombudsman was not permanently filled; an interim Ombudsman had been in place since February 2001. Critics said there was an apparent lack of political will to establish a strong Office of the Ombudsman.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, set up in 2001 to establish the circumstances surrounding human rights abuses committed by the state and by armed opposition groups between May 1980 and November 2000, delivered its final report in August. The Commission concluded that of the estimated 69,000 people who were killed or had "disappeared" during the 20 years, 54 per cent of the cases were the responsibility of the armed opposition group Shining Path and 46 per cent were the responsibility of armed forces. The Commission also concluded that three quarters of the victims were Quechua native speakers, reflecting "the discrimination and marginalization against the Andean rural population which is impregnated in Peruvian society".

The Commission stated that justice was an essential element of reconciliation, and said that it had submitted to the Public Ministry the identity of 24,000 victims in order that justice could be achieved. The Commission also stated that "an ethically healthy and politically viable country cannot be built on the foundations of impunity". Its recommendations included proposals for institutional reform, an integrated plan for reparations, and a national plan for forensic anthropological interventions in light of the 4,644 burial sites the Commission had recorded, as well as measures to ensure that its recommendations were implemented.

In response, President Alejandro Toledo apologized in the name of the state to "all those who suffered". He announced that he would spend approximately US$800 million on a Peace and Development Plan which would improve public works in the areas most affected and strengthen state institutions and civil society. He did not, however, offer the individual reparations that victims and their relatives had sought. On the issue of impunity the President was criticized for stating that "some members of the security forces had committed painful excesses" and for not accepting that human rights violations committed by the security forces were widespread and systematic, as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission had concluded. The President did insist that it was now the task of the Public Ministry and the judiciary to implement justice in these cases "without protecting either impunity or abuse".

'Anti-terrorism' legislation

In January the Constitutional Tribunal ruled that life imprisonment and the use of military courts to try civilians were unconstitutional. The executive then issued a series of decree laws to conform with this ruling. The decree laws annulled the sentences handed down by military courts for the crime of "treason" and ordered that all those tried before military courts be retried in civilian courts. The decree laws also ordered the retrial of all those tried between 1992 and 1997 by "faceless judges" (judges whose identities were kept secret) and modified the length of sentences applied under the "anti-terrorism" legislation. After this ruling some political prisoners were retried in public hearings before ordinary courts. There were still serious concerns that the definition of the crime of "terrorism" in the legislation remained too wide and vague, and that although life imprisonment was reduced to 30 years, the possibility of release after 30 years was subject to review.

Prisoners of conscience

Scores of prisoners of conscience and possible prisoners of conscience falsely charged with "terrorism-related" offences remained in jail. A special commission within the Ministry of Justice that was established to review these cases was effectively suspended after it was announced that all those tried before military courts and "faceless judges" would be retried. There were serious concerns that instead of immediately and unconditionally releasing these prisoners, they would be retried within a judicial system that was slow and inefficient and were therefore likely to spend many more years in prison.

Harsh prison conditions

Conditions in maximum security prisons, where those charged with "terrorism-related" offences were held, continued to be harsh and in some cases amounted to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. In February the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights again called on the authorities to close Challapalca prison, which is at more than 4,600 metres above sea level and is extremely cold. The inaccessibility of the prison seriously limits prisoners' rights to maintain contact with the outside world, including with relatives, lawyers and doctors. The Inter-American Commission also called for the high security prison of Yanamayo in Puno department to be closed; the prison was reopened in January after undergoing building works.

Human rights defenders and journalists under attack

There were reports of threats and intimidation against human rights defenders in Lima, the capital, and against journalists who opposed the local government in the province of Canchis.

Torture

Torture and ill-treatment by security officials remained a concern, and there continued to be few investigations into alleged incidents.

• In November a public prosecutor invoked the statute of limitations to close the investigation into the case of Luis Alberto Cantoral Benavides, who was tortured in 1993. He argued that the time limit under the statute of limitations for prosecution of the crimes of grave bodily harm and abuse of authority had expired. The Penal Code was not amended to include torture as a specific crime until 1998. In December the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled that Peru could not invoke the statute of limitations to avoid complying with the Court's rulings in this case. The Court had ruled in 2000 that Peru had violated, among other things, the right to humane treatment and the right to personal liberty. It had also ruled in 2000 and 2001 that the authorities should investigate the case, bring the perpetrators to justice and offer reparation to the victim and his relatives. The Inter-American Court ordered Peru to present by April 2004 a report detailing the steps it has taken to implement the Court's 2000 and 2001 rulings.

Update on 1996 alleged extrajudicial executions

The military court that heard the case of 15 military officers charged with extrajudicially executing members of the armed opposition group Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru (MRTA – Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement) ruled that there was no case to answer. There were serious concerns that military courts were neither independent nor impartial. Relatives of the victims appealed against the court's ruling. The MRTA members had broken into the residence of the Japanese Ambassador in December 1996 and taken hostages. The hostage crisis ended in April 1997 when the then President, Alberto Fujimori, ordered a military assault. All 14 MRTA hostage-takers were killed, leading to allegations that some may have been extrajudicially executed.

Abuses by the armed opposition

Small groups of Shining Path reportedly continued to operate in some areas. In June members of Shining Path kidnapped more than 60 workers of the Argentine firm Techint near the town of Toccate, some 350 kilometres southeast of the capital, where they were building a natural gas pipeline. The workers were released 36 hours later.

There were reports of Shining Path members threatening human rights defenders in Tabalosos, Requena province.

Tambogrande: social and economic rights under threat

The local population of the district of Tambogrande in the northern department of Piura continued to express fears that the possible mining activities in the area by a Canadian mining company would result in contamination of the water and soil and endanger crops, fears the mining company said had been disproved in an environmental impact study it had carried out. The area produces 40 per cent of Peru's mango and citrus crops. Local human rights organizations urged the authorities not to approve the company's impact study on the grounds that the project would endanger the environment and therefore threaten the social and economic rights of the local population. The authorities had not made a decision by the end of the year. In 2002 a neighbourhood poll organized by the municipality and the population of Tambogrande resulted in an overwhelming rejection of the mining plans.

Former President Fujimori: extradition request

In July, the government submitted an extradition request to the Japanese authorities for former President Alberto Fujimori on charges of human rights violations and corruption. The Japanese authorities had not made a decision by the end of the year.