WOLA: Advocacy for Human Rights in the Americas
4 Apr 2009

Imminent Verdict in Peru’s Trial of Former President Alberto Fujimori

Peru's former president, Alberto Fujimori, has been on trial in Peru on human rights charges. The court has indicated that the verdict will be announced in Lima next Tuesday, April 7, at 9 am (10 am EST).

 

Media Advisory


WASHINGTON OFFICE ON LATIN AMERICA
Promoting Human Rights, Democracy, and Social and Economic Justice in Latin America

April 3, 2009
Washington, DC

Peru's former president, Alberto Fujimori, has been on trial in Peru on human rights charges.  The court has indicated that the verdict will be announced in Lima next Tuesday, April 7, at 9 am (10 am EST).

The Fujimori trial has centered on the following cases of human rights violations:

  • The Barrios Altos massacre of 1991, in which 15 people were killed;
  • The disappearance and later killing of nine students and a professor from the Cantuta University in 1992; and
  • The kidnappings of journalist Gustavo Gorriti and businessman Samuel Dyer in the aftermath of the April 5, 1992, autogolpe, or self-coup, in which Fujimori – with the backing of the armed forces – closed congress, suspended the constitution and took control of the judiciary.

In coordination with the Peruvian human rights community, the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) has followed the Fujimori trial closely.  We consider the process to have been exemplary in its transparency and fairness, and to represent a milestone in efforts to overcome impunity in Peru and the region more broadly.

For more information on this historic trial, please see the rapporteur's report of an October 2008 symposium, "Human Rights Tribunals in Latin America:  The Fujimori Trial in Comparative Perspective," organized by the Center for Global Studies at George Mason University, the Lima-based Instituto de Defensa Legal (IDL) and WOLA, available here.

WOLA representatives will be present in Lima for the verdict's announcement on Tuesday, April 7, and will be available to the media.

Contacts
In Lima (Monday, April 6 – Wednesday, April 8)
Coletta Youngers, Senior Fellow, WOLA
Jo-Marie Burt, Associate Professor of Political Science, George Mason University
Tel:  011 (511) 996-290-966

In Washington
John Walsh, Senior Associate, WOLA
Tel:  (202) 797-2171