The Permanent Committee of the Peruvian Congress approved this Thursday (4) in a second vote a bill that would limit the application and scope of crimes against humanity and war crimes, openly defying the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which asked the country to repeal it because of the prescription that it would mean for some of these cases.
The law was approved with 15 votes in favor, 12 against and no abstentions in a session of the Standing Committee, which made it one of the first topics of debate.
The Inter-American Court had requested on Tuesday (2) “that the State of Peru, through its three branches of government, take the necessary measures to ensure that Bill No. 6951/2023-CR, which establishes the statute of limitations for crimes against humanity committed in Peru, is not adopted, rendered null and void or not applied”.
It also ordered Peru to present a complete and detailed report on compliance with the measure by August 9.
The initial proposal was approved on June 7 by the entire Congress with 60 votes in favor, but it required a second vote to be ratified and, on June 13, the court ordered Peru to suspend its proceedings until it issued a resolution on the issue.
The bill was proposed by the pro-Fujimori Popular Force party and the conservative Popular Renewal party, a group composed in part of former heads of the Armed Forces, and aims to prevent anyone from being prosecuted for crimes against humanity or war crimes that occurred before 2002 and therefore excludes the period of the internal conflict (1980-2000) that left more than 69,000 victims in the country.
Peruvian Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzén said on Wednesday (3) that he was “outraged” by the court’s order on the bill, which is still in force.
“I am outraged, absolutely outraged, by the decision of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which rules in the most unusual way, and without any precedent, on a bill that has not even become a law,” Adrianzén declared.
The prime minister added that “it is intolerable” that the supranational court demands that the three powers “of a sovereign member state” like Peru not approve or apply a law.
Furthermore, he highlighted that he is promoting a joint statement from the three powers to express “the rejection of this type of provisions coming from the supranational justice system”.
Human rights organizations say that this initiative will affect access to justice and the truth for victims of human rights violations, especially in the cases of La Cantuta and Barrios Altos, for which former President Alberto Fujimori was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2009.
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