Inter-American Court requires Peru to refrain from freeing Fujimori

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) requested the State of Peru to refrain from freeing former president Alberto Fujimori to guarantee the right to justice for the victims of two cases of human rights violations, informed the Center for Justice and International Law (Cejil) on Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for Cejil confirmed the information to Efe, while a source at the IACHR Court, which is based in Costa Rica, informed that the court would not refer to the matter publicly for the time being.

According to Cejil, who acts as the victims’ representative in the cases judged by the Inter-American Court, the court’s plenary adopted a decision on Wednesday to require the Peruvian State to abstain from freeing Fujimori as a measure to guarantee access to justice for the victims of the La Cantuta and Barrios Altos cases.

According to the organization, the Inter-American Court will soon notify the parties of its complete decision.

Peru is still awaiting the release of Fujimori (1990-2000), 83 years old, while his defense is trying to speed up the judicial process that will allow him to leave prison thanks to a Constitutional Court ruling that reinstated a humanitarian pardon that had been granted to the former president in 2017.

Fujimori was sentenced by the Peruvian justice system in 2009 to 25 years in prison for the perpetration-by-means of the La Cantuta and Barrios Altos massacres, in which 25 people died, and for the kidnapping of a journalist and a businessman in 1992.

The Inter-American Court also condemned Peru in 2001 for the Barrios Altos case and in 2006 for the La Cantuta case and ordered the State to punish those responsible.

The government of President Pedro Castillo announced that it would appeal to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to try to reverse the pardon since this court asked the Peruvian State to punish the crimes for which the former president was sentenced 13 years ago.

After learning of the decision of the Peruvian Constitutional Court, the justice system ordered Fujimori to be banned from leaving the country for 18 months for him to attend the summons for the Pativilca case, a massacre of six people perpetrated in 1992.