In a letter sent Tuesday to Peruvian President Alan García Pérez, WOLA and CEJIL, both non-governmental human rights organizations based in Washington, DC, call on his administration to demonstrate a greater commitment to human rights and to implement policies that will bring an end to impunity for rights violations in Peru.
● The letter notes that “in recent months the climate for debate on human rights issues has deteriorated significantly,” based on statements by high-level government officials and leaders of the ruling APRA party who have criticized defenders of human rights and even accused them of supporting subversive groups. These statements are reminiscent of those that were made regularly by officials during the Fujimori regime.
● It requests ask that the Peruvian government “guarantee the absolute independence and autonomy of the Judicial Branch” and discontinue plans for the implementation of the death penalty.
● The signatory organizations state that the Peruvian government should use the conclusions and recommendations of the Commission on Truth and Reconciliation as a “road map” for policy decisions. Although they consider the creation of the Council of Reparations to be an encouraging step in the right direction, the groups, nonetheless, lament the government’s “disregard for the National Human Rights Plan for 2006-2010, which was the product of a participatory process and which contains the basic elements for an official human rights policy.”
● The letter expresses concern over the enactment of Laws 28875 and 28925, which broaden the jurisdiction and powers of the Peruvian International Cooperation Agency (Agencia Peruana de Cooperación Internacional). These laws allow an unnecessarily high degree of government interference and oversight in the activities of non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
To read the full text of this letter, please click here.
For more information, please contact:
John Walsh, WOLA, jwalsh@wola.org, (202) 797-2171
Maria Clara Galvis, CEJIL, mgalvis@cejil.org, (202) 319-3000
