Continuing to Pursue Human Rights Violators in Peru

Peru has done an excellent job of late going after those military leaders and politicians who in the past supported crimes against humanity, including sending former-president Alberto Fujimori to jail for what will most likely be the rest of his life.

In spite of accomplishing this high-profile sentencing, Peru's legal system has not rested on its laurels, and now prosecutors are going after three generals for their role in the murders of 36 university students:

There is more than enough evidence to convict three generals and other army officers in the kidnapping and murder of 36 university students from the highlands city of Huancayo in Peru between 1989 and 1993, Víctor Lizárraga of the National Human Rights Coordinator (CNDDHH) told IPS.

Charges in the case were brought on Mar. 8 against Generals Manuel Delgado, Luis Pérez and David Jaime Sobrevilla, who during those years commanded the army's 31st infantry brigade based in Huancayo, in the central region of Junín, where the Universidad Nacional del Centro (UNC) is located.

But details from the prosecutor's charge sheet are just coming out now.

The UNC students, suspected of belonging to or sympathising with the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) or Tupác Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) guerrillas, were killed during one of the bloodiest periods of the 1980-2000 civil war between the leftist rebels and government forces.

Some critics may point to the fact that the students were "suspected" of alliances to armed leftist movements in order to justify the military's actions in the 1980s and 1990s, but "suspicion" is not equated to guilt; those students who were murdered were never given a fair shot at a trial in the way the generals are. As for the likelihood that the generals will be found guilty, the prosecution's case seems strong, drawing on military documents, as well as accounts from students who managed to escape military captivity, to demonstrate the methodical approach the military used in kidnapping and killing students. And as for the potential success or failure of that approach, the prosecution seems in good shape, given that a similar approach resulted in Fujimori's guilty verdict:

"Prosecutor Carlos Carhuancho is accusing the generals of authorising the murders - the same formula used to convict former president Alberto Fujimori for the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta massacres, committed by the Army Intelligence Service," which was under the president's command, said Lizárraga of the CNDDHH, which represents the victims' families.

Given the success in the past with this method, plus what appears to be overwhelming evidence against the generals, this will hopefully result in another victory for human rights in Peru, even if it cannot bring back those who were wrongly murdered.

Alberto Fujimori's Sentence Upheld

This is great news:

Peru's Supreme Court has upheld a 25-year jail sentence imposed on former President Alberto Fujimori.

The term was handed down last April for ordering the security forces to carry out killings and kidnappings. [...]

It was the first time a democratically elected Latin American leader was found guilty of human rights abuses in his own country.

There was some real concern that Fujimori's conviction wouldn't withstand the appeals process. It appears those concerns have not materialized, though, and he will spend the rest of his life in jail for overseeing a government that killed innocent civilians in the name of "national security." And the fact that he's the first democratically elected leader to be convicted for human rights violations in Latin America will hopefully deter other democratically elected leaders from supporting acts similar to Fujimori's, in the present and the future.

Alberto Fujimori Guilty in Peru (UPDATED)

This is just huge:

Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori was convicted of human rights crimes Tuesday, the first time a democratically elected Latin American president was found guilty in his own country of rights abuses.
A three-judge panel convicted him for ordering a military death squad to carry out two massacres that killed 25 people during his 1990-2000 rule, when he was battling guerrillas. Nearly 70,000 people died in two decades of conflict in the Andean country.
Once lauded as a hero, Fujimori, 70, could spend the rest of his life in prison if he receives a lengthy sentence. He can appeal the ruling, but the verdict is likely to have far-reaching political implications for Peru.
"This court declares that the four charges against him have been proven beyond all reasonable doubt," Judge Cesar San Martin said.

The Shining Path certainly committed its own violent acts, but for too long, Fujomiri has rested safely on the dual/pseudo-defenses of "those killed were terrorists"/"I didn't know about the killings directly"/"I kept Peru safe". These defenses were bunk (no doubt, the 8-year-old boy killed in one of the two massacres Fujimori was convicted for was not involved in any "terrorist" or "rebel" activities). But they held up for Fujimori for a long time.

Well, apparently those defenses just dosn't hold up anymore, and hopefully it will set a trend not just for Peru, but for South America more generally: if you support military and paramilitary acts against "terrorists" or "rebels," you will be held responsible. I bet a lot of politicians in Peru just got a bit more nervous, and if I'm Alvaro Uribe, I'm really concerned. But that doesn't matter right now. Right now, this is just a great day for human rights in Peru.

....(UPDATE): If he ends up serving it, 25 years in jail for a 70-year-old human rights violator responsible for (at least) 25 dead seems alright. Sure, it's a year per victim, but if he dies in jail, disgraced and alone, that will be more than adequate, I think.

Bad News for Alberto Fujimori?

This is very good news:

A Peruvian court on Tuesday convicted a former general and three members of a military death squad of kidnapping and murder in a ruling that prosecutors say could set a precedent in the trial of former President Alberto Fujimori. The four were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 15 to 35 years in connection
with a 1992 massacre [...]
In a separate courtroom, Fujimori is being tried for allegedly authorizing the death squad to fight the guerrillas.
Jose Pelaez, the prosecutor in Fujimori's trial, said guilty verdicts in Tuesday's ruling would "establish a precedent" in the former president's case. "If the men who carried out the acts are found guilty, undoubtedly, the man at the top of the command chain, the man behind it all, Fujimori, also will be condemned for the same acts," he said before the verdict was issued.

Things are definitely starting to look grim for Fujimori. He's already guaranteed to have to serve jail time after his conviction on lesser charges. I'm not quite as confident as Pelaez that the conviction of the soldiers and the general guarantees that Fujimori will be found guilty, but the case certainly sets a precedent that doesn't bode well for the former president. Certainly, it's excellent news that the soldiers and military leaders who committed and authorized attacks on civilians are being punished with jail time; that in and of itself is a major step towards rectifying past human rights abuses in Peru. And with the precedent set, Fujimori, who as president commanded and oversaw all military (and paramilitary) activities in Peru in the 1990s is on even thinner ice. He may still be found not guilty, but the conviction of the military men was definitely a step in the right direction, and a sign of hope that other leaders involved in human rights abuses in Peru in the 90s will not get off lightly.

Peru's Alberto Fujimori Guilty on Lesser Charges

Yesterday, a Peruvian court found Peru's former president Alberto Fujimori guilty of abuse of authority when he ordered an illegal search of an apartment without a warrant in 2000. The judge could have given him a lesser sentence, but instead chose to sentence Fujimori to 6 years in jail, at least part of which he will have to serve.

It's good to see him going to jail on at least this charge, but the big charges are still waiting. Just this week, Fujimori's trial on the more severe human rights based on murder and disappearance during Peru's struggle with the Maoist Shining Path rebel group in the Andean highlands in the 1990s. Fujimori stands up to 30 years jailtime if he is found guilty in this case. Additionally, as the NYT points out, from an historical standpoint, the trial could be important in revealing evidence about the Grupo Colina paramilitary death squads that operated in the country, allegedly with government support.

While the details of the massacres the Grupo Colina committed are well known, and it's no secret that Vladimir Montesinos was in charge of the Grupo Colina even while head of Peru's intelligence service during Fujimori's administration, Fujimori has remained defiant that he knew nothing. Also, as in Colombia with the AUC, there hasn't been much to date that directly connects Fujimori to Grupo Colina (and, like Uribe, Fujimori insists that, if any crimes were committed, he had no knowledge of them, nor did he participate in the decisions and orders that led to further violence). However, the trial could begin to reveal just how close Colina and the Fujimori government were connected, which will be an important step in reconciling the violence and human rights abuses (on both sides) during the Shining Path era and will hopefully reduce the current narrative popular among many of Fujimori's supporters that he "rescued" Peru from financial troubles.