(Lima) The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) estimated Friday that the pardon granted by Peruvian justice to former president Alberto Fujimori, 85, imprisoned for crimes against humanity, “can generate a form serious impunity.
“The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) rejects Peru’s decision to release former President Alberto Fujimori, who was serving a sentence for serious human rights violations,” said a statement from the IACHR, headquartered in Washington.
According to the organization, the Peruvian State acted in “contrary to international obligations […] and in violation of orders issued by the Court of the IACHR.”
The Commission recalls that “the granting of pardons and other exemptions from responsibility to people found guilty of serious human rights violations and crimes against humanity can generate a serious form of impunity”.
The families of victims under the government of Alberto Fujimori also asked the IACHR on Friday “to issue a resolution clearly and forcefully indicating that the (Peruvian) State has disobeyed an order (of the Court) and, on on this basis, to issue a report to the OAS General Assembly,” said Gloria Cano, lawyer for the victims’ relatives, during a press conference.
Former President Fujimori (1990-2000) suffers from respiratory and neurological problems, including facial paralysis. He left prison on Wednesday on the orders of the Constitutional Court which reinstated a pardon granted in 2017 “for humanitarian reasons”.
The IACHR on Tuesday asked Peru to refrain from releasing Mr. Fujimori until it examines the legality of the Constitutional Court’s decision. But the government of President Dina Boluarte authorized his release.
The former Peruvian strongman was found guilty of the deaths of 25 people in two massacres carried out by an army commando in what was called the guerrilla war on terrorism (1980-2000). far-left and had been serving a 25-year sentence for crimes against humanity since 2009.