Barrios Altos and la Cantuta: the cases for which the Inter-American Court would leave Alberto Fujimori unreleased

The case of Alberto Fujimori's pardon is causing a lot of pressure and controversy in the Peruvian political sphere. Recently, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Inter-American Court of Human Rights) asked the Government not to release the former president, despite the fact that the Constitutional Court (TC) restored the humanitarian pardon and presidential grace.

Fujimori will remain in prison until it is decided how to act in response to the request of the victims of Barrios Altos and La Cantuta to the Inter-American Court. Learn here about the cases that sentenced Fujimori to 25 years in prison, and for which he received pardon.

The case of Barrios Altos occurred on November 3, 1991, when six hooded and armed individuals from the Colina group broke into a house in 840 del Jirón Huanta, in Barrios Altos, where a pollada was taking place. The people in the house were presumed to have links to terrorist activities, so they were ordered to lie on the floor and then shot indiscriminately. Fifteen people died, including an 8-year-old boy named Javier Ríos Rojas, and 4 others were seriously injured.

The La Cantuta case occurred a few months later, on July 18, 1992, at the Enrique Guzmán La Valle National University of Education, better known as La Cantuta. In this place, nine students and one teacher were taken from their residences and then disappeared. The remains of two of them were found in clandestine graves a year later. Direct authorship was also attributed to Grupo Colina.

SENTENCE

Fujimori was extradited from Chile to Peru in 2007 and convicted for his role in the Barrios Altos massacre, La Cantuta, other human rights violations, as well as corruption offences. On 7 April 2009, he was sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment by the Special Criminal Chamber (SPE). The former president was found to have been the immediate perpetrator of the crimes of qualified homicide and serious injury for the events that occurred in Barrios Altos and La Cantuta.

They concluded that Fujimori had co-opted the Armed Forces and was the head of an organized apparatus, which revolved around the National Intelligence Service (SIN). This had served as a means of committing crimes, of which the then president was aware.

Since in Peru the penalties are not cumulative, that was the general sentence for which he was in prison. He was also convicted of usurpation of functions (6 years), embezzlement (7 years and 6 months), illegal payments to congressmen and the purchase of media editorial lines (6 years) and the case of Chicha newspapers (8 years).

The SPE described crimes in Barrios Altos and La Cantuta as crimes against humanity, because they had been part of a systematic and widespread State policy that sought the elimination of persons who allegedly were members of subversive groups. The sentence was confirmed in the second instance by the First Transitional Criminal Chamber on 30 December 2009.

CASES REACHED THE INTER-AMERICAN COURT

The victims took the cases to the Inter-American Court and the Peruvian State acknowledged their responsibility for the events. They were described by the Inter-American Court as serious violations of human rights. The Court therefore ruled that the application of amnesty laws or any other type of exclusionary law was inadmissible.

In doing so, they ruled on the amnesty laws passed during the Fujimori government to exonerate those responsible for the massacre in Barrios Altos and pointed out that they had no legal effect.

This decision set an important precedent. The Barrios Altos judgment served as a basis for rejecting exceptions filed in various judicial proceedings seeking the application of amnesty laws. For example, they were the basis for the TC in the cases of Martin Rivas and Salazar Monroe, where it declared the demands of military personnel seeking not to be tried in the cases unfounded.

WHY ARE THE CASES STILL OPEN?

Both cases remain open before the Inter-American Court because the State has not complied with many measures ordered by the agency. The latest decisions to comply with the sentences of 2009 (La Cantuta case) and 2012 (Barrios Altos case) show that there is still a need to conclude investigations, pay reparations and carry out symbolic measures. For example, the remains of five victims in the La Cantuta case are still unaccounted for and many of those convicted have not paid anything for civil reparation.

In addition, measures have been issued to nullify the seriousness of the cases. In July 2012, the Permanent Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice issued a Supreme Execution stating that extrajudicial executions in the Barrios Altos case did not constitute crimes against humanity and reduced the sentences of the accused. The Inter-American Court conducted investigated and determined the existence of this measure as contrary to the ruling in the Barrios Altos case. For this reason, the Permanent Criminal Chamber annulled its own executory.

Years later, on December 24, 2017, then-President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski granted Alberto Fujimori humanitarian pardon and presidential grace for these two specific cases. This was annulled by the Supreme Court, following the ruling of the Inter-American Court that invalidated amnesties for those convicted of crimes against humanity. However, on 17 March 2022, the Constitutional Court restored that grace.

Now, on March 30, the Inter-American Court asked the Government not to release Fujimori until the cases are decided. A public hearing was set for April 1.

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