Alberto Fujimori's arrest and trial
Encyclopedia
Former Peru
vian President Alberto Fujimori
was arrested and tried for a number of crimes related to corruption
and human rights abuses that occurred during his government.
, the government of Peru
requested his extradition. Because Japan recognizes Fujimori as a Japanese citizen rather than a Peruvian citizen, and because Japan refuses to extradite its citizens to other countries, Fujimori was not extradited from Japan.
, Chile
, on a private aircraft, having flown via Tijuana
from Tokyo
. His flight had passed through Peruvian airspace on its path from Mexico
to Chile
. There were numerous firings over alleged negligence in the handling of the Fujimori flight to Chile. As investigations continued, two Chilean and four Mexican immigration officers were dismissed for failing to notify superiors of Fujimori's stop at the time of his arrival. Colonel Carlos Medel, head of Interpol
in Lima
, was also fired for negligence, apparently having ordered his staff to switch off the 24-hour Interpol warning system at the time of the overflight.
Mexican officials suggested Fujimori was not arrested in Mexico because there was no judicial order for his arrest. Chilean officials issued similar statements, reiterating that Chilean courts must process international arrest warrants to make them valid.
Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo
, after learning of the arrival of Fujimori in Chile, called for an "urgent meeting" in the governmental palace. Toledo called Chile's foreign minister, Ignacio Walker, and requested the detention of Fujimori. A few hours later, Fujimori was detained on an arrest warrant
issued by a Chilean judge, who was told by Chile's Supreme Court
to consider Lima's request for Fujimori's pre-trial detention, as part of the extradition process.
Fujimori was then transferred to the School of Investigations, Chile's Investigative Police academy, where he spent the night. Notified of the reasons for his arrest, Fujimori petitioned for provisional freedom during the extradition proceedings, but his petition was denied. Later in the day, he was transferred to the School of Gendarmerie, a training academy for corrections officers, where he was detained until May 2006.
Peru, which had sixty days to issue an extradition request, sent a high-level delegation led by Interior Minister Rómulo Pizarro and a top prosecutor; this action, together with the fact that president Toledo said, on television, that "he personally will welcome Fujimori at the airport and conduct him to the jail," defined the situation as a 'political prosecution', according to many analysts. The government of Japan asked for "fair treatment" for Fujimori.
On May 18, 2006 Fujimori was granted bail (set at US $2,830) by the Chilean Supreme Court and was released from detention and whisked away to a house rented for him by his family in the Las Condes
neighborhood of Santiago
. According to Fujii Takahiko, one of the Japanese financiers who had been covering some of Fujimori's expenses, "Fujimori [calmly waited] for the decision of the Chilean Supreme Court because he [had] the assurance that he [would] not be extradited." It was reported that Fujii covered the cost of renting the house, while a cadre of businessmen and Japanese friends covered his living expenses. Fujii, a car exporter by trade, reported that Fujimori had largely forgotten his knowledge of the Japanese language.,
Because he was granted provisional freedom, Fujimori was not allowed to leave Chile. There were fears among some Peruvians that he could have escaped from the country.
Fujimori arrived at a time of tense relations between Chile and Peru, after Peru's Congress
passed a law the previous week in an attempt to reclaim sea territory from Chile. Chilean foreign minister, Ignacio Walker, said Fujimori's action demonstrated "a very imprudent, very irresponsible attitude, considering this is the most difficult week we have had with Peru in the last decade". In a media statement, Fujimori said that he would stay in Chile temporarily while launching his candidacy for Peruvian president in the April 2006 elections.
Cesar Nakasaki, Fujimori's lawyer, in a television interview said Chile, because of its Judiciary reputation, was chosen as a preliminary step before travelling on to Peru; other analysts speculated that Fujimori chose Chile for its proximity to Peru and for the fact that extraditions from Chile to Peru had proved difficult in recent years.
The government of Peru sent a number of extradition requests to Chile concerning Fujimori. It requested his extradition to stand trial for murder in the cases of the Barrios Altos massacre
and the La Cantuta massacre
, both carried out by Grupo Colina
. It also requested his extradition for kidnapping Samuel Dyer and Gustavo Gorriti
, both of whom were abducted by Peruvian Army
personnel during Fujimori's self-coup and brought to the basements of the Intelligence Service
.
Additionally, he was charged with usurpation of powers and abuse of authority for ordering the illegal search and seizure of a house owned by Vladimiro Montesinos
' wife; illicit association to commit a crime, embezzlement
, and inserting false statements in a public document for paying Montesinos US$ 15 million; illicit association to commit a crime and active corruption
of authorities for paying congressmen to switch parties and inform on the opposition parties; telephonic interference or eavesdropping
, illicit association to commit a crime, and embezzlement for authorizing the illegal wiretapping of opposition figure's phones; and illicit association to commit a crime, embezzlement, and usurpation of powers for engaging in a fraudulent purchase of tractors from China and bribing newspapers and television stations with state money in order to obtain favorable news coverage.
Subsequently, the Chilean judge overseeing the extradition proceedings refused to accept new evidence regarding the 10 corruption and two human rights charges, which, according to the BBC News' Dan Collyns, "would have prolonged the case by several months". On November 22, 2006, the Peruvian government issued a new arrest warrant for Fujimori, alleging that he ordered the death of 20 members of Sendero Luminoso in 1992. Fujimori denied the charge.
On January 11, 2007 Chile's Supreme Court rejected a motion for an additional investigation filed by lawyers representing Fujimori. The new ruling coincided with the Peruvian government's anger over a recent Inter-American Court of Human Rights
(IACHR) ruling that found Peru guilty of crimes committed during former president’s regime. The Peruvian government expressed fresh concern that Fujimori might try to escape from Chile. Although Fujimori was on parole
, with stipulations banning him from leaving Chile, at the end of January 2007 he traveled to a beach resort aboard a private airplane.
On February 1, 2007 Reuters
reported that the Peru
vian government's final report on Fujimori's extradition
included additional evidence supporting the former president's links to human rights
abuses. In the words of Carlos Briceno, Peru's special corruption
prosecutor
, "We've practically finished the report, in which there is irrefutable proof [against Fujimori]". For his part, Fujimori denied the human rights and embezzlement
charges.
, Pedro Fujimori was charged with corruption associated with reception of illegal donations for an NGO, Apenkai, founded at the outset of Fujimori’s first term in office. Chehade reported to Reuters that Pedro Fujimori oversaw Japanese donations to the Peruvian government, and that he allegedly siphoned off as much as US $30 million into his own personal bank accounts in the United States. A spokesperson for the Fujimorista party, Congressman Carlos Raffo
, denied the charges calling them unsubstantiated, and noted that there are no signs of corruption on the part of Pedro Fujimori.
, ruled that he had not found any evidence linking former president Alberto Fujimori with all the corruption cases and alleged human rights violations of which the Toledo congress had accused him. (The judge's ruling can be found here). Judge Álvarez declared to the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio
that all the accusations were based on gossip and innuendo; "he [Fujimori] was supposed to know those criminal acts".
The opinion was immediately appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court announced that it would reach a decision on September 5, 2007. This provoked a strong reaction from Omar Chehade, one of the chief prosecutors, who declared that he had information that the decision would be "cooked" and that there was no way that the Supreme Court could possibly read and analyze all the petitions submitted to it in such a short time. This opinion was immediately repudiated by many.
and La Cantuta massacre
related charges were accepted unanimously, while four other corruption-related charges were passed by a majority of votes. One corruption charge was passed unanimously.
On the same day, Peruvian police sent an airplane to receive Fujimori. The plane (with Peru's General Director of National Police, David Rodriguez, four Interpol officers and physicians) arrived in Santiago on the morning of September 22. The following day, the plane returned to Lima's Las Palmas air force base with Fujimori on board. He was flown by helicopter to a police base, to be held in detention until a permanent facility was prepared.
's wife's apartment, and on December 11, 2007, the Peruvian court sentenced him to six years in prison and fined him 400,000 soles (135,000 U.S. dollars) for abuse of powers in ordering this search, which took place shortly before he left office.
On April 10, 2008, the Supreme Court of Peru
upheld Fujimori's sentence of six years in the case.
was Sí Cumple
s presidential candidate in the April 9, 2006 general election
(under the Alianza por el Futuro banner). Fujimori's daughter, Keiko Fujimori
was a congressional candidate representing the same alliance. While Chávez got 7.43% of the first-round vote (placed 4th) for presidency and was eliminated, Keiko Fujimori received the highest vote for any single candidate (with 602,869 votes) and took one of Sí Cumple's 13 seats in the new Congress.
Some of Sí Cumples members occupy powerful positions in the resulting congress, such as Luisa Maria Cuculiza
, who is the Vice-President of Congress, Rolando Souza, who was formerly
Alberto Fujimori's lawyer and now president of the International Affairs Committee, and Santiago Fujimori
, who is now president of the Energy Committee. Keiko Fujimori, is president of the Peruvian-Chilean Friendship Commission.
, the upper house of the Diet of Japan
, under the banner of the People's New Party
, a minor party with only eight lawmakers. Still under house arrest in Chile at the time, Fujimori's initial campaign statements were conveyed by party head Shizuka Kamei
. Japan's government had determined in 2000 that Fujimori holds Japanese citizenship. The Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
issued a statement in response, pointing out that there is no law banning participation in an election by someone under house arrest in a foreign country.
The announcement sparked speculation that Fujimori's candidacy was a maneuver to win diplomatic immunity
as an elected official and avoid trial in Peru. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet
said her country's Supreme Court would not be influenced by the move and would soon decide whether to grant an extradition request to return Fujimori to Peru.
On July 11, 2007, Chile's Supreme Court turned down the Peruvian government's request that Fujimori be extradited there to face charges of human rights violations; however he remained under house arrest in Chile and it was unclear whether he would be permitted to depart for Japan. Though much of the Japanese public have a favorable view of Fujimori due to his role in the resolution of the 1997 Japanese embassy hostage crisis
, members of the Democratic Party of Japan
and the Japanese Communist Party
questioned his commitment to Japan and accused him of using the election to avoid justice in Peru.
Japan indicated on July 5, 2007 that it had no plans to ask Chile to allow Alberto Fujimori to return for that month's upper house elections. The leader of the People's New Party had urged Japan's Foreign Minister to take up the issue with the government of Chile. Fujimori ultimately lost the election.
death squad
to execute the November 1991 Barrios Altos massacre
and the July 1992 La Cantuta Massacre
, which resulted in the deaths of 25 people, and for taking part in the kidnappings of Peruvian journalist Gustavo Gorriti
and businessman Samuel Dyer. Fujimori's conviction marked the first time in history that a democratically elected president had been tried and found guilty of human rights abuses in his own country. Fujimori was already serving a six-year prison sentence for his December 2007 conviction on abuse of power charges. The trial for Fujimori's human rights abuses lasted 15 months, and was postponed on multiple occasions due to his ill health. Later on April 7, the court sentenced Fujimori to 25 years in prison.
Ronald Gamarra Herrera
, Executive Secretary of National Coordinator for Human Rights of Peru and one of the lawyers representing the civil parties -the families of the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta victims-, said to the press that "there has not been hate, or revenge, or cruelty in Fujimori’s trial. What there has been is justice. We are not happy for the pain of a man, nor of what tragedy his family is going through. But yes it is comforting to know that justice has been served and that the victims, after so many years, can rest in peace".
The Financial Times
claimed that international observers had "hailed the trial as a model of due process even before the verdict was read out". Michael Reed of the International Center for Transitional Justice
stated that, "Throughout 15 months the whole Peruvian people have been actively living this process. This social engagement is important … the decision will in fact demonstrate polarisation. The issue is how the Peruvian state and Peruvian society deal with that polarization towards the future." Maria McFarland, a Senior Researcher for Human Rights Watch
, noted that the verdict was "absolutely the right decision...[and] well grounded in all the evidence" and that the special court would "go down in history as a model of what we want to see in terms of rule of law and justice and progress in Latin America. So much has always been focused on the power of the executive and the president and the strong man; now suddenly the judiciary is having a say."
After Fujimori's conviction had been announced, riots broke out in the streets. In the Ate District
, approximately twenty police officers had to break up a fight between members of Fujimori's political party and a group from the local Peru's Workers Confederation (CTP). It was believed that the riot broke out when about fifty CTP members went to the police station and provoked a fight with some 300 Fujimori supporters. Outside the court, relatives of victims clashed with Fujimori supporters; the fights were broken up by riot police.
Correo, a right-wing newspaper in Lima, published a poll on April 9 claiming that 59.4% was against Fujimori's conviction, with rejection to the sentence reaching 68.3% among the lower classes.
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
vian President Alberto Fujimori
Alberto Fujimori
Alberto Fujimori Fujimori served as President of Peru from 28 July 1990 to 17 November 2000. A controversial figure, Fujimori has been credited with the creation of Fujimorism, uprooting terrorism in Peru and restoring its macroeconomic stability, though his methods have drawn charges of...
was arrested and tried for a number of crimes related to corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
and human rights abuses that occurred during his government.
Background
After Fujimori fled to JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, the government of Peru
Politics of Peru
Politics of the Republic of Peru takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Peru is both head of state and head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is...
requested his extradition. Because Japan recognizes Fujimori as a Japanese citizen rather than a Peruvian citizen, and because Japan refuses to extradite its citizens to other countries, Fujimori was not extradited from Japan.
Arrest in Chile
On November 6, 2005, Alberto Fujimori unexpectedly arrived in SantiagoSantiago, Chile
Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, on a private aircraft, having flown via Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
from Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. His flight had passed through Peruvian airspace on its path from Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
to Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
. There were numerous firings over alleged negligence in the handling of the Fujimori flight to Chile. As investigations continued, two Chilean and four Mexican immigration officers were dismissed for failing to notify superiors of Fujimori's stop at the time of his arrival. Colonel Carlos Medel, head of Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
in Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
, was also fired for negligence, apparently having ordered his staff to switch off the 24-hour Interpol warning system at the time of the overflight.
Mexican officials suggested Fujimori was not arrested in Mexico because there was no judicial order for his arrest. Chilean officials issued similar statements, reiterating that Chilean courts must process international arrest warrants to make them valid.
Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo
Alejandro Toledo
Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique is a politician who was President of Peru from 2001 to 2006. He was elected in April 2001, defeating former President Alan García...
, after learning of the arrival of Fujimori in Chile, called for an "urgent meeting" in the governmental palace. Toledo called Chile's foreign minister, Ignacio Walker, and requested the detention of Fujimori. A few hours later, Fujimori was detained on an arrest warrant
Arrest warrant
An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by and on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual.-Canada:Arrest warrants are issued by a judge or justice of the peace under the Criminal Code of Canada....
issued by a Chilean judge, who was told by Chile's Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Chile
The Supreme Court of Chile is the highest court in Chile. It also administrates the lower courts in the nation. It is located in the capital Santiago....
to consider Lima's request for Fujimori's pre-trial detention, as part of the extradition process.
Fujimori was then transferred to the School of Investigations, Chile's Investigative Police academy, where he spent the night. Notified of the reasons for his arrest, Fujimori petitioned for provisional freedom during the extradition proceedings, but his petition was denied. Later in the day, he was transferred to the School of Gendarmerie, a training academy for corrections officers, where he was detained until May 2006.
Extradition proceedings
The decision whether or not to extradite Fujimori was delegated by the Chilean government to the Supreme Court, following precedent dating to a 1932 extradition treaty between the two nations. Chilean law suggests that in addition to the terms of the treaty, extradition requests must also be based on whether there is sufficient evidence against the accused – not necessarily enough to convict him of the charges, but sufficient to justify (from a Chilean legal point of view) the indictments the accused faces. This meant that Peruvian prosecutors had to demonstrate that the crimes for which Fujimori has been charged in Peru were just as severe in Chile.Peru, which had sixty days to issue an extradition request, sent a high-level delegation led by Interior Minister Rómulo Pizarro and a top prosecutor; this action, together with the fact that president Toledo said, on television, that "he personally will welcome Fujimori at the airport and conduct him to the jail," defined the situation as a 'political prosecution', according to many analysts. The government of Japan asked for "fair treatment" for Fujimori.
On May 18, 2006 Fujimori was granted bail (set at US $2,830) by the Chilean Supreme Court and was released from detention and whisked away to a house rented for him by his family in the Las Condes
Las Condes
Las Condes is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. The area is inhabited primarily by upper-mid to high income families...
neighborhood of Santiago
Santiago, Chile
Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
. According to Fujii Takahiko, one of the Japanese financiers who had been covering some of Fujimori's expenses, "Fujimori [calmly waited] for the decision of the Chilean Supreme Court because he [had] the assurance that he [would] not be extradited." It was reported that Fujii covered the cost of renting the house, while a cadre of businessmen and Japanese friends covered his living expenses. Fujii, a car exporter by trade, reported that Fujimori had largely forgotten his knowledge of the Japanese language.,
Because he was granted provisional freedom, Fujimori was not allowed to leave Chile. There were fears among some Peruvians that he could have escaped from the country.
Fujimori arrived at a time of tense relations between Chile and Peru, after Peru's Congress
Congress of Peru
The Congress of the Republic of Peru or the National Congress of Peru is the unicameral body that assumes legislative power in Peru.Congress consists of 130 members of congress , who are elected for five year periods in office on a proportional representation basis...
passed a law the previous week in an attempt to reclaim sea territory from Chile. Chilean foreign minister, Ignacio Walker, said Fujimori's action demonstrated "a very imprudent, very irresponsible attitude, considering this is the most difficult week we have had with Peru in the last decade". In a media statement, Fujimori said that he would stay in Chile temporarily while launching his candidacy for Peruvian president in the April 2006 elections.
Cesar Nakasaki, Fujimori's lawyer, in a television interview said Chile, because of its Judiciary reputation, was chosen as a preliminary step before travelling on to Peru; other analysts speculated that Fujimori chose Chile for its proximity to Peru and for the fact that extraditions from Chile to Peru had proved difficult in recent years.
The government of Peru sent a number of extradition requests to Chile concerning Fujimori. It requested his extradition to stand trial for murder in the cases of the Barrios Altos massacre
Barrios Altos massacre
The Barrios Altos massacre took place on 3 November 1991, in the Barrios Altos neighborhood of Lima, Peru. Fifteen people, including an eight-year-old child, were killed, and four more injured, by assailants who were later determined to be members of Grupo Colina, a death squad made up of members...
and the La Cantuta massacre
La Cantuta massacre
The La Cantuta massacre, in which a university professor and nine students from Lima's La Cantuta University were abducted by a military death squad and "disappeared", took place in Peru on 18 July 1992 during the presidency of Alberto Fujimori...
, both carried out by Grupo Colina
Grupo Colina
Grupo Colina was a paramilitary anti-communist death squad created in Peru that was active from 1990 until 1994, during the administration of Alberto Fujimori...
. It also requested his extradition for kidnapping Samuel Dyer and Gustavo Gorriti
Gustavo Gorriti
Gustavo Gorriti is a Peruvian journalist who has worked extensively on coverage pertaining to the politics, culture, and social issues of Central and South America, and the Caribbean...
, both of whom were abducted by Peruvian Army
Peruvian Army
The Peruvian Army is the branch of the Peruvian Armed Forces tasked with safeguarding the independence, sovereignty and integrity of national territory on land through military force. Additional missions include assistance in safeguarding internal security, conducting disaster relief operations...
personnel during Fujimori's self-coup and brought to the basements of the Intelligence Service
National Intelligence Service (Peru)
The National Intelligence Service was an intelligence agency of the Government of Peru. The agency was disbanded by Alberto Fujimori after its de facto chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, was caught paying bribes to major political, military and media figures. Fujimori later pleaded guilty to charges...
.
Additionally, he was charged with usurpation of powers and abuse of authority for ordering the illegal search and seizure of a house owned by Vladimiro Montesinos
Vladimiro Montesinos
Vladimiro Ilyich Montesinos Torres was the long-standing head of Peru's intelligence service, Servicio de Inteligencia Nacional , under President Alberto Fujimori. In 2000, secret videos, which he had recorded, were televised that showed his bribing an elected congressman to leave the opposition...
' wife; illicit association to commit a crime, embezzlement
Embezzlement
Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....
, and inserting false statements in a public document for paying Montesinos US$ 15 million; illicit association to commit a crime and active corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
of authorities for paying congressmen to switch parties and inform on the opposition parties; telephonic interference or eavesdropping
Eavesdropping
Eavesdropping is the act of secretly listening to the private conversation of others without their consent, as defined by Black's Law Dictionary...
, illicit association to commit a crime, and embezzlement for authorizing the illegal wiretapping of opposition figure's phones; and illicit association to commit a crime, embezzlement, and usurpation of powers for engaging in a fraudulent purchase of tractors from China and bribing newspapers and television stations with state money in order to obtain favorable news coverage.
Subsequently, the Chilean judge overseeing the extradition proceedings refused to accept new evidence regarding the 10 corruption and two human rights charges, which, according to the BBC News' Dan Collyns, "would have prolonged the case by several months". On November 22, 2006, the Peruvian government issued a new arrest warrant for Fujimori, alleging that he ordered the death of 20 members of Sendero Luminoso in 1992. Fujimori denied the charge.
On January 11, 2007 Chile's Supreme Court rejected a motion for an additional investigation filed by lawyers representing Fujimori. The new ruling coincided with the Peruvian government's anger over a recent Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Inter-American Court of Human Rights
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is an autonomous judicial institution based in the city of San José, Costa Rica. Together with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it makes up the human rights protection system of the Organization of American States , which serves to uphold and...
(IACHR) ruling that found Peru guilty of crimes committed during former president’s regime. The Peruvian government expressed fresh concern that Fujimori might try to escape from Chile. Although Fujimori was on parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
, with stipulations banning him from leaving Chile, at the end of January 2007 he traveled to a beach resort aboard a private airplane.
On February 1, 2007 Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
reported that the Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
vian government's final report on Fujimori's extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
included additional evidence supporting the former president's links to human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
abuses. In the words of Carlos Briceno, Peru's special corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
prosecutor
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
, "We've practically finished the report, in which there is irrefutable proof [against Fujimori]". For his part, Fujimori denied the human rights and embezzlement
Embezzlement
Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....
charges.
Pedro Fujimori
On February 8, 2007 the Peruvian government filed a formal request with the United States for the extradition of Fujimori's younger brother, Pedro Fujimori. According to the head of the Peruvian Justice Ministry's Unit for Extraditions, Omar ChehadeOmar Chehade
Omar Karim Chehade Moya is a Peruvian lawyer and politician. He worked as consultant lawyer in the Ad-hoc Anti-corruption Prosecution in the cases against ex-president Alberto Fujimori and his intelligence chief Vladimiro Montesinos...
, Pedro Fujimori was charged with corruption associated with reception of illegal donations for an NGO, Apenkai, founded at the outset of Fujimori’s first term in office. Chehade reported to Reuters that Pedro Fujimori oversaw Japanese donations to the Peruvian government, and that he allegedly siphoned off as much as US $30 million into his own personal bank accounts in the United States. A spokesperson for the Fujimorista party, Congressman Carlos Raffo
Carlos Raffo
Carlos Fernando Raffo Arce is a Peruvian politician and a Congressman representing Lima for the 2006-2011 term. Raffo belongs to the Alliance for the Future party. He's one of the main supporters of Alberto Fujimori.-External links:*...
, denied the charges calling them unsubstantiated, and noted that there are no signs of corruption on the part of Pedro Fujimori.
Chilean judge rejects Fujimori extradition
On July 20, 2007 the Chilean Supreme Court judge Orlando ÁlvarezOrlando Alvarez
Jesús Manuel Orlando Álvarez Monge is a retired professional baseball player who played 4 seasons for the Los Angeles Dodgers and California Angels of Major League Baseball.-Transactions:...
, ruled that he had not found any evidence linking former president Alberto Fujimori with all the corruption cases and alleged human rights violations of which the Toledo congress had accused him. (The judge's ruling can be found here). Judge Álvarez declared to the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio
El Mercurio
El Mercurio is a conservative Chilean newspaper with editions in Valparaíso and Santiago. Its Santiago edition is considered the country's paper-of-record and its Valparaíso edition is the oldest daily in the Spanish language currently in circulation. El Mercurio is owned by El Mercurio S.A.P...
that all the accusations were based on gossip and innuendo; "he [Fujimori] was supposed to know those criminal acts".
The opinion was immediately appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court announced that it would reach a decision on September 5, 2007. This provoked a strong reaction from Omar Chehade, one of the chief prosecutors, who declared that he had information that the decision would be "cooked" and that there was no way that the Supreme Court could possibly read and analyze all the petitions submitted to it in such a short time. This opinion was immediately repudiated by many.
Chilean Supreme Court grants Fujimori extradition
The Chilean Supreme Court granted Fujimori's extradition to Peru on September 21, 2007, on 7 of 13 charges. The Barrios Altos massacreBarrios Altos massacre
The Barrios Altos massacre took place on 3 November 1991, in the Barrios Altos neighborhood of Lima, Peru. Fifteen people, including an eight-year-old child, were killed, and four more injured, by assailants who were later determined to be members of Grupo Colina, a death squad made up of members...
and La Cantuta massacre
La Cantuta massacre
The La Cantuta massacre, in which a university professor and nine students from Lima's La Cantuta University were abducted by a military death squad and "disappeared", took place in Peru on 18 July 1992 during the presidency of Alberto Fujimori...
related charges were accepted unanimously, while four other corruption-related charges were passed by a majority of votes. One corruption charge was passed unanimously.
On the same day, Peruvian police sent an airplane to receive Fujimori. The plane (with Peru's General Director of National Police, David Rodriguez, four Interpol officers and physicians) arrived in Santiago on the morning of September 22. The following day, the plane returned to Lima's Las Palmas air force base with Fujimori on board. He was flown by helicopter to a police base, to be held in detention until a permanent facility was prepared.
First conviction
Fujimori confessed that he had ordered a warrantless search of Vladimiro MontesinosVladimiro Montesinos
Vladimiro Ilyich Montesinos Torres was the long-standing head of Peru's intelligence service, Servicio de Inteligencia Nacional , under President Alberto Fujimori. In 2000, secret videos, which he had recorded, were televised that showed his bribing an elected congressman to leave the opposition...
's wife's apartment, and on December 11, 2007, the Peruvian court sentenced him to six years in prison and fined him 400,000 soles (135,000 U.S. dollars) for abuse of powers in ordering this search, which took place shortly before he left office.
On April 10, 2008, the Supreme Court of Peru
Supreme Court of Peru
The Supreme Court of Justice is the highest judicial court in Peru. Its jurisdiction extends over the entire territory of the nation. It is headquartered in the Palace of Justice in Lima.The supreme court is composed of three Supreme Sectors:...
upheld Fujimori's sentence of six years in the case.
Peruvian General Elections
Martha ChávezMartha Chávez
Martha Gladys Chávez Cossío de Ocampo is a Peruvian politician and lawyer who ran unsuccessfully for president in the 2006 presidential elections on the Alliance for the Future ticket.-Education and professional career:...
was Sí Cumple
Sí Cumple
Sí Cumple is a political party of Peru founded by Alberto Fujimori as Vamos Vecino in 1998 in order for the party to participate in that year's municipal elections. In 2005 it assumed its current name....
s presidential candidate in the April 9, 2006 general election
Peruvian national election, 2006
The first round of the 2006 Peruvian national election was held on April 9, 2006 to elect the President of the Republic, two Vice-Presidents, 120 Members of Congress, and five Peruvian members of the Andean Parliament , for the 2006-2011 period.No single presidential ticket obtained more than half...
(under the Alianza por el Futuro banner). Fujimori's daughter, Keiko Fujimori
Keiko Fujimori
Keiko Sofía Fujimori Higuchi is a Peruvian Fujimorista politician, daughter of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori and Susana Higuchi. She served as First Lady, from 1994 to 2000, after her parents divorced, becoming the youngest First Lady in the history of the Americas...
was a congressional candidate representing the same alliance. While Chávez got 7.43% of the first-round vote (placed 4th) for presidency and was eliminated, Keiko Fujimori received the highest vote for any single candidate (with 602,869 votes) and took one of Sí Cumple's 13 seats in the new Congress.
Some of Sí Cumples members occupy powerful positions in the resulting congress, such as Luisa Maria Cuculiza
Luisa María Cuculiza
Luisa María Cuculiza Torre is a Peruvian fujimorist politician and a Congresswoman representing the city of Lima since 2006....
, who is the Vice-President of Congress, Rolando Souza, who was formerly
Alberto Fujimori's lawyer and now president of the International Affairs Committee, and Santiago Fujimori
Santiago Fujimori
Santiago Inomoto Fujimori Fujimori is a Peruvian lawyer and politician. He is the younger brother of former President Alberto Fujimori. He is a Member of Congress representing Lima, after getting 22,992 votes in the 2006 election, in which he also ran unsuccessfully for First Vice-President on...
, who is now president of the Energy Committee. Keiko Fujimori, is president of the Peruvian-Chilean Friendship Commission.
Japanese politics
In June 2007, Fujimori announced his candidacy for the House of CouncillorsHouse of Councillors
The is the upper house of the Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, or designation of the prime minister, the House of Representatives...
, the upper house of the Diet of Japan
Diet of Japan
The is Japan's bicameral legislature. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives, and an upper house, called the House of Councillors. Both houses of the Diet are directly elected under a parallel voting system. In addition to passing laws, the Diet is formally...
, under the banner of the People's New Party
People's New Party
The People's New Party is a centre-right, Conservative, Japanese political party formed on 17 August 2005 in the aftermath of the defeat of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Japan Post privatisation bills which led to a snap election.-History:The Kokumin Shinto, headed by Shizuka Kamei, includes...
, a minor party with only eight lawmakers. Still under house arrest in Chile at the time, Fujimori's initial campaign statements were conveyed by party head Shizuka Kamei
Shizuka Kamei
is a Japanese politician.-Early life:He was born in the city of Shōbara in Hiroshima Prefecture into a poor family. He studied at the department of economics at University of Tokyo and worked his way through school through various jobs, including singing at a cabaret.Upon graduation in 1960, he...
. Japan's government had determined in 2000 that Fujimori holds Japanese citizenship. The Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
The ' or Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is a cabinet-level ministry in the Government of Japan. The English name Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications was used prior to 2004...
issued a statement in response, pointing out that there is no law banning participation in an election by someone under house arrest in a foreign country.
The announcement sparked speculation that Fujimori's candidacy was a maneuver to win diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments that ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country's laws...
as an elected official and avoid trial in Peru. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet
Michelle Bachelet
Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria is a Social Democrat politician who was President of Chile from 11 March 2006 to 11 March 2010. She was the first woman president of her country...
said her country's Supreme Court would not be influenced by the move and would soon decide whether to grant an extradition request to return Fujimori to Peru.
On July 11, 2007, Chile's Supreme Court turned down the Peruvian government's request that Fujimori be extradited there to face charges of human rights violations; however he remained under house arrest in Chile and it was unclear whether he would be permitted to depart for Japan. Though much of the Japanese public have a favorable view of Fujimori due to his role in the resolution of the 1997 Japanese embassy hostage crisis
Japanese embassy hostage crisis
The Japanese embassy hostage crisis began on 17 December 1996 in Lima, Peru, when 14 members of the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement took hostage hundreds of high-level diplomats, government and military officials and business executives who were attending a party at the official residence of...
, members of the Democratic Party of Japan
Democratic Party of Japan
The is a political party in Japan founded in 1998 by the merger of several opposition parties. Its socially liberal platform is generally considered center-left in the Japanese political spectrum...
and the Japanese Communist Party
Japanese Communist Party
The Japanese Communist Party is a left-wing political party in Japan.The JCP advocates the establishment of a society based on socialism, democracy and peace, and opposition to militarism...
questioned his commitment to Japan and accused him of using the election to avoid justice in Peru.
Japan indicated on July 5, 2007 that it had no plans to ask Chile to allow Alberto Fujimori to return for that month's upper house elections. The leader of the People's New Party had urged Japan's Foreign Minister to take up the issue with the government of Chile. Fujimori ultimately lost the election.
Conviction for human rights abuses
On April 7, 2009, a three-judge panel of Peru's Supreme Court convicted Fujimori on charges of human rights abuses, declaring that the "charges against him have been proven beyond all reasonable doubt". The panel found him guilty of ordering the Grupo ColinaGrupo Colina
Grupo Colina was a paramilitary anti-communist death squad created in Peru that was active from 1990 until 1994, during the administration of Alberto Fujimori...
death squad
Death squad
A death squad is an armed military, police, insurgent, or terrorist squad that conducts extrajudicial killings, assassinations, and forced disappearances of persons as part of a war, insurgency or terror campaign...
to execute the November 1991 Barrios Altos massacre
Barrios Altos massacre
The Barrios Altos massacre took place on 3 November 1991, in the Barrios Altos neighborhood of Lima, Peru. Fifteen people, including an eight-year-old child, were killed, and four more injured, by assailants who were later determined to be members of Grupo Colina, a death squad made up of members...
and the July 1992 La Cantuta Massacre
La Cantuta massacre
The La Cantuta massacre, in which a university professor and nine students from Lima's La Cantuta University were abducted by a military death squad and "disappeared", took place in Peru on 18 July 1992 during the presidency of Alberto Fujimori...
, which resulted in the deaths of 25 people, and for taking part in the kidnappings of Peruvian journalist Gustavo Gorriti
Gustavo Gorriti
Gustavo Gorriti is a Peruvian journalist who has worked extensively on coverage pertaining to the politics, culture, and social issues of Central and South America, and the Caribbean...
and businessman Samuel Dyer. Fujimori's conviction marked the first time in history that a democratically elected president had been tried and found guilty of human rights abuses in his own country. Fujimori was already serving a six-year prison sentence for his December 2007 conviction on abuse of power charges. The trial for Fujimori's human rights abuses lasted 15 months, and was postponed on multiple occasions due to his ill health. Later on April 7, the court sentenced Fujimori to 25 years in prison.
Ronald Gamarra Herrera
Ronald Gamarra Herrera
Ronald Álex Gamarra Herrera is a Peruvian politician and lawyer specializing in human right issues. During 2009 to 2010, Gamarra was Executive Secretary of the Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos and one of the lawyers representing the civil parties -the families of the Barrios Altos and La...
, Executive Secretary of National Coordinator for Human Rights of Peru and one of the lawyers representing the civil parties -the families of the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta victims-, said to the press that "there has not been hate, or revenge, or cruelty in Fujimori’s trial. What there has been is justice. We are not happy for the pain of a man, nor of what tragedy his family is going through. But yes it is comforting to know that justice has been served and that the victims, after so many years, can rest in peace".
The Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
claimed that international observers had "hailed the trial as a model of due process even before the verdict was read out". Michael Reed of the International Center for Transitional Justice
International Center for Transitional Justice
The International Center for Transitional Justice was founded in 2001 as a non-profit organization dedicated to pursuing accountability for mass atrocity and human rights abuse through transitional justice mechanisms.-Mission statement:...
stated that, "Throughout 15 months the whole Peruvian people have been actively living this process. This social engagement is important … the decision will in fact demonstrate polarisation. The issue is how the Peruvian state and Peruvian society deal with that polarization towards the future." Maria McFarland, a Senior Researcher for Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, noted that the verdict was "absolutely the right decision...[and] well grounded in all the evidence" and that the special court would "go down in history as a model of what we want to see in terms of rule of law and justice and progress in Latin America. So much has always been focused on the power of the executive and the president and the strong man; now suddenly the judiciary is having a say."
After Fujimori's conviction had been announced, riots broke out in the streets. In the Ate District
Ate District
Ate, also known as Ate-Vitarte, is a district of the Lima Province in Peru. Located in the eastern part of the province, it is one of the districts that comprise the city of Lima.-Geography:The district has a total land area of 77.72 km²...
, approximately twenty police officers had to break up a fight between members of Fujimori's political party and a group from the local Peru's Workers Confederation (CTP). It was believed that the riot broke out when about fifty CTP members went to the police station and provoked a fight with some 300 Fujimori supporters. Outside the court, relatives of victims clashed with Fujimori supporters; the fights were broken up by riot police.
Correo, a right-wing newspaper in Lima, published a poll on April 9 claiming that 59.4% was against Fujimori's conviction, with rejection to the sentence reaching 68.3% among the lower classes.
External links
- APRODEHAPRODEHAsociación Pro Derechos Humanos is a Peruvian human rights organization. It was established in 1983 by a group of professionals who had been providing information to Peruvian congressmen involved with the Congressional Human Rights Commission, such as Javier Diez Canseco...
. The trial of Alberto Fujimori. - Fujimori on Trial :: Fujimori procesado