Freeing former Peruvian President Fujimori is an “unacceptable setback,” say UN experts

The imminent release of octogenarian former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, after reinstating him with a presidential pardon, is an “unacceptable setback” in the fight against impunity for serious human rights violations committed during his administration, a group of UN experts said Tuesday.

The Constitutional Court (TC) declared habeas corpus founded last Thursday and reinstated the pardon granted to Fujimori in December 2017 and annulled by the Peruvian justice 10 months later.

That decision “appears to be inconsistent with international human rights standards that restrict the use of pardon in cases involving crimes against humanity,” human rights experts said in a statement issued in Geneva.

They recalled that the pardon granted on Christmas eve of that year by then-President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski on grounds of humanitarian reasons had been considered incompatible with legal requirements.

“Unless justified by reasons clearly acceptable under domestic and international law,” annulling Fujimori's 25-year sentence would be “a serious blow to justice and the rule of law,” said the group of experts, composed of Fabian Salvioli, Morris Tidball Binz, Luciano Hazan, Aua Baldé, Tae-Ung Baik, Gabriella Citroni and Henrikas Mickevičius.

It also “violates the right to justice of victims and their families,” they added.

“Victims of human rights violations have long waited for justice to be served, and this decision represents a painful setback for them,” they added.

Fujimori, 83, suffers from atrial fibrillation, pulmonary fibrosis and hypertension, according to his doctor.

“Humanitarily, Alberto Fujimori does not deserve to die in prison,” said his family doctor and like-minded parliamentarian Alejandro Aguinaga.

Imprisoned in 2007, Fujimori has already served 15 of his 25-year prison sentence for the massacres of Barrios Altos (15 dead, including a child) and La Cantuta (10 dead), perpetrated by military squads during his administration (1990-2000) in the context of the war on terror.

In order for him to leave the prison he occupies in a police base in Lima, the TC must notify the prison service, a procedure that has not yet been completed.

The decision of the TC, which is final, sparked demonstrations in the streets of Lima in favor of and against the pardon.

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