NewsA group of UN human rights experts denounced [UN report] on Thursday the grant of pardon to former Peru President Alberto Fujimori, calling it a “‘slap in the face’ to victims of human rights abuses.”
According to the experts
The presidential pardon granted to Alberto Fujimori on politically motivated grounds undermines the work of the Peruvian judiciary and the international community to achieve justice. It is also a major setback for the rule of law in Peru: a humanitarian pardon has been granted to someone convicted of serious crimes after a fair trial, whose guilt is not in question and who does not meet the legal requirements for a pardon.
The experts state that the use of the medical pardon in this case does not mesh with international human rights standards as international human rights laws restricts the grant of pardons “in cases of serious human rights violations including extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.”
Fujimori was pardoned [JURIST report] in December after serving almost half of a 25-year prison sentence for human rights abuses and corruption committed during his authoritarian regime in the 1990s.
According to the experts, the judiciary rejection of Fujimori’s petition for pardon was enough to quell any further request. They urge for the government to treat him like any other person convicted of serious human right crimes who was given a fair trial and “whose guilt is not in question and who does not meet the legal requirements for a pardon.”
The experts urge the Peruvian government to adopt a comprehensive transitional justice strategy and continue its fight against impunity.
