Inter-American Court of Human Rights says Peru must refrain from releasing Alberto Fujimori from prison.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) has ordered Peru not to release former President Alberto Fujimori because a decision last month to reinstate a presidential pardon did not give sufficient weight to Fujimori’s victims’ right to justice.
The IACHR resolution, released on Friday, overturns Peru’s Supreme Constitutional Court, which ruled on March 17 to allow Fujimori’s release on “humanitarian” grounds.
Fujimori, president from 1990 to 2000, has been serving a 25-year sentence since 2009 for two massacres committed by army death squads during his presidency.
25 people, including a child, were killed in alleged “anti-terrorist” operations in 1991 and 1992.
Peru’s Constitutional Court last month reinstated a controversial 2017 presidential pardon for Fujimori over health concerns, which had already been overturned in part following decisions by the Costa Rica-based IACHR.
However, the IACHR in late March urged Peru not to release Fujimori until it had reviewed the matter. His new decision closes the door on the divisive former leader leaving prison for the time being.
“The State of Peru must refrain from implementing the judgment handed down by the Peruvian Constitutional Court on March 17, 2022, which restores the effects of the pardon on humanitarian grounds awarded to Alberto Fujimori on December 24, 2017,” the court said on Friday.
Peru has said it will abide by any decision made by the IACHR.
While Fujimori is hailed by some for restoring economic stability and defeating the Maoist armed group, the Shining Path, he has also been condemned for his violent methods, including using death squads and sending the military to harass Congress and the judiciary in the country to close in 1992.
His government has also been accused of forcibly sterilizing Peruvian women under the guise of a family planning program, while the former president has also faced corruption allegations.
Following last month’s Constitutional Court decision, protesters took to the streets of the capital Lima, calling on the government to ensure Fujimori remains behind bars throughout his sentence.
Many protesters also criticized the ex-leader for not acknowledging his crimes or apologizing to his victims.
Fujimori’s family has submitted several requests for release on health grounds, but they have all been denied.
His daughter Keiko Fujimori, who lost three runoffs in the presidential election, said last year she would pardon her father if elected.
She was defeated in June by leftist former teachers’ union leader Pedro Castillo and now faces criminal charges over allegations of illegal campaign finance in her failed presidential candidates in 2011 and 2016.