Peru: Fujimori’s Release Violates International Law
Human Rights WatchDec 06, 2023
After the country's top court granted him a pardon in 2017, former Peruvian Pres. Alberto Fujimori — who had been serving a 25-year prison sentence for human rights abuses during his presidency — was freed from Lima's Barbadillo prison on Wednesday.
Despite objections from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Peru's highest court supported an appeal to restore a 2017 pardon for Fujimori — who has served around 16 years after being extradited from Chile in 2007 — on humanitarian grounds.
Alberto Fujimori was an authoritarian strongman who abused democracy and committed atrocities in the battle against the Shining Path guerillas. As he remains a highly divisive figure in Peru, Fujimori's comeback undermines Peruvian democracy and will seriously affect the country's rule of law.
Lower courts have repeatedly revoked Alberto Fujimori's 2017 pardon in response to demands from the families of the victims and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. However, considering the 85-year-old's poor health, it is time to show mercy to the man whose efforts and policies once saved the nation from spiraling into catastrophe.
There's a 50% chance that Peru's GDP per capita (PPP) will be at least 20.9K international dollars in 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.