Lima and The Hague, June 25, 2024. FIDH and one of its member organizations in Peru, APRODEH, today had a meeting with the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) during which they submitted a communication under the Article 15 of the Rome Statute. This communication details evidence of the commission of crimes against humanity of murder and attempted murder in Peru between December 7, 2022 and February 9, 2023. They are also publishing today a summary of the communication submitted to the ICC ( attachment).
In these documents, the two organizations detail the systematic targeting of protesters in Peru, where the army and police have made disproportionate and indiscriminate use of violence, mainly against young men and indigenous populations. . Although the repression quickly claimed many victims, the policy of resorting to violence, organized and approved by high-level government authorities, continued for two months. These events clearly constitute crimes against humanity as defined by the Rome Statute. As a result, the ICC Office of the Prosecutor was asked to open an investigation into Peru.
Gloria Cano, director of APRODEH and vice-president of FIDHexplain “a very detailed profiling of the 49 victims was carried out on a case-by-case basis. The causes of death of each person were examined, as well as the types of injuries: most often bullet holes to the torso and face. Most of the victims were killed while exercising their legitimate right to protest. The report also details the efforts for justice that, to date, have been carried out through the Prosecutor’s Office to clarify the basis of the crimes committed by the police and members of the army.“
Jimena Reyes, director of the FIDH Americas officedenounces “the obvious racism of the assassinations that took place in Andahuaylas, Ayacucho and Juliaca, and which affected the indigenous population (Quechua and Aymara). The government accused the protesters of belonging to terrorist groups without any evidence. For this reason, among others, the operations, which relied on the tactical and weapons capacity of the security forces, gave rise to violent repression against the demonstrators through a disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force.“.
The various elements collected indicate the existence of provisions and means given by the high authorities of Dina Boluarte’s government so that the repression aims to put an end to the demonstrations at all costs. The violent repression against demonstrators and anyone present, both by the police and the army, was preceded by operational plans which, in turn, were justified by emergency decrees issued by the presidency and the council of ministers. Likewise, after the deaths and injuries, senior government officials, including the President Dina Boluartepublicly denied their responsibilities, blaming the demonstrators for the violence to which they were victims, calling them terrorists.
Peru caught in democratic collapse
The document also analyzes the context of the democratic crisis that has been plaguing Peru since 2021. Through the report “Peru: advance of authoritarianism and regression of rights”, FIDH, with its member organizations in Peru, APRODEH, Peru – Equidad and CEDAL, alerted to the causes that led to the institutional collapse and the destruction of the rule of law in the country.
In what the organizations denounced as an opaque government pact, various conservative and autocratic groups in Congress attempted to usurp and instrumentalize, with the blessing of the presidency, various public agencies, including the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the National Council. of justice (supervisory body of prosecutors, judges and electoral system authorities). They obtained, among other things, the release of former President Alberto Fujimori, convicted of crimes against humanity, in defiance of international standards and the recent advancement in Congress of a statute of limitations for crimes against humanity. .
The political and social disintegration that has provoked is a conservative and autocratic project, which has ended by dinamitar the escasa confianza of the city of its representatives. Según a recent investigation carried out by DATUM, even a 5% aprueba to the presidenta, a new historical record. However, 91% of the population was unable to attend the conference, según IPSOS.
The political and social disintegration caused by this conservative and autocratic project ended up dynamiting the already weak confidence of citizens in their representatives. According to a recent survey carried out by DATUM, only 5% of the population approves of the president, which constitutes a new historical record. At the same time, 91% of the population rejects the performance of members of Congress, according to IPSOS.
