Dina Boluarte, the president of Peru promulgated, Wednesday, August 13, a controversial law granting an amnesty to the military, police and members of the paramilitary groups accused of human rights violations committed between 1980 and 2000, during the armed conflict against the left guerrillas.
“Through this amnesty law, the Peruvian government and the Congress recognize the sacrifice of members of the armed forces, police and self -defense groups in the fight against terrorism”said Mr.me Boluarte during a ceremony at the presidential palace. “We give them dignity that should never have been questioned. »»
According to the new law passed on July 9, the amnesty will apply to soldiers and civilians who have not yet been sentenced by justice. It also provides for the release of convicted people over the age of 70.
The armed conflict between the state and the guerrillas of the luminous path and the revolutionary movement Tupac Amaru left around 70,000 dead and 20,000 missing, according to official figures.
“This law is simply betrayal to the Peruvian victims”said Juanita Goebertus, director of the Human Rights Watch (HRW) “It undermines decades of efforts to guarantee responsibility for the atrocities committed and further weakens the rule of law in the country”she added in a press release.
A dividing text
The CIDH, the highest judicial body on the continent, had ordered the Peruvian state on July 24” immediately “ suspend the legislative procedure and, in the event of a promulgation, to refrain from applying the law while it analyzes its effects on the rights of the victims.
Mme Bololuarte, who broke unpopularity records and will complete her mandate in July 2026, had immediately criticized this requirement: “This position of the government is sovereign, autonomous, free and just for a country which aspires to peace”. The president is the subject of an investigation for the death of demonstrators that occurred after her accession to power in December 2022. Her popularity rating fell to a historically low level, reaching 1.3 % according to a survey published in July.
UN experts, for their part, had exhorted the Peruvian government to put its veto on the law, arguing that international standards prohibit the amnesties for serious crimes.
The law could affect 156 cases with final judgment and more than 600 legal proceedings in progress for crimes committed during these years, had estimated the experts mandated by the Council of Human Rights of the United Nations, but not expressed in the name of the organization.
In August 2024, Peru had already adopted a prescription law for crimes against humanity committed before 2002, thus closing the way to hundreds of investigations. This initiative, which human rights defenders qualify as “Impunity law”had benefited in particular to the former president, Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000)-sentenced for having ordered two massacres of civilians in 1991 and 1992-, as well as 600 soldiers prosecuted.
The Commission for Truth and Reconciliation has identified more than 4,000 clandestine pits in Peru resulting from violence committed between 1980 and 2000.
In 2005, the Argentine Supreme Court unconstitutional the laws of amnesty of the 1980s which had allowed in the country to around a thousand soldiers and police officers responsible for serious human rights violations under the military dictatorship (1976-1983) to escape justice.
