CHILE-PERU:
Decision to Extradite
Fujimori Sets
International Precedent
By Daniela Estrada
SANTIAGO, (IPS) -
Human rights groups
applauded the Chilean
Supreme Court’s decision
Friday to extradite
former Peruvian
president Alberto
Fujimori (1990-2000) to
be tried in his country
for gross human rights
abuses, noting that it
sets an international
legal precedent.
"We are very pleased. We
were confident (in the
Chilean justice system)
because we have always
seen this as a perfect
opportunity for the
Chilean Supreme Court to
set an important
precedent by extraditing
a former civilian
president accused of
human rights
violations," Sergio
Laurenti, executive
secretary of Amnesty
International Chile,
told IPS.
"Although it was a split
verdict, it establishes
two principles of
international law: the
responsibility of
command and the
principle of
extradition," said the
activist.
José Miguel Vivanco,
Americas director for
Human Rights Watch, who
was in the Palace of
Justice in Santiago
Friday to hear the
verdict, said the
decision to extradite
Fujimori is
unprecedented, because
it is the first time
that a court has ordered
the extradition of a
former head of state to
be tried for human
rights violations in his
home country.
"After years of evading
justice, Fujimori will
finally have to respond
to the charges and
evidence against him in
the country he used to
run like a mafia boss,"
said Vivanco.
As reporters from around
the world anxiously
awaited the verdict,
Supreme Court Justice
Alberto Chaigneau
announced just after
8:00 AM local time that
the Court had decided to
extradite Fujimori in
connection with seven of
the 13 cases presented
by Peruvian prosecutors,
including two human
rights cases and five
corruption cases,
overturning the
first-instance ruling
handed down by Justice
Orlando Álvarez.
The two human rights
cases involve the
Barrios Altos and La
Cantuta massacres, and
the case of Sótanos
S.I.E,, in which
Fujimori is accused of
ordering the abduction
and torture of suspected
opponents of his regime.
In the first massacre,
15 alleged members of
the Maoist Sendero
Luminoso (Shining Path)
guerrillas were killed
in the central Lima
neighbourhood of Barrios
Altos on Nov. 3, 1991.
The victims, who
included an
eight-year-old boy, were
at a neighbourhood
barbecue when
heavily-armed and masked
members of a death squad
burst in, ordered
everyone to lie down on
the floor, and opened
fire on them.
It was later reported
that the assailants had
been targeting a Sendero
meeting, which
apparently took place on
another floor of the
same apartment building.
And on Jul. 18, 1992,
nine students and a
professor at La Cantuta
University were
kidnapped and murdered,
as suspected members of
Sendero.
In one of the corruption
cases, Fujimori is
accused of bribing
members of Congress to
persuade them to defect
from their parties and
join the governing
party. The other four
corruption cases involve
charges of illegal
searches, phone-tapping,
payoffs to the media,
and the misuse of 15
million dollars in
government funds.
However, the magistrates
upheld Álvarez’s July
ruling, which denied
extradition, for six of
the 13 charges presented
by Peru.
The Peruvian courts can
only try Fujimori for
the cases in which
extradition was
approved, unless the
Peruvian government of
Alan García decides to
ask Chile to reconsider
and grant extradition
for other cases, said
the representative of
the Peruvian state in
the extradition trial,
lawyer Alfredo
Etcheberry, who added
that he was "very
satisified" with the
ruling.
Justice Chaigneau said
it "was much easier than
expected" for the
five-judge panel to
reach a decision, and
dismissed speculation
that the Court had been
under any pressure.
In his first statements
to a Peruvian radio
station, Fujimori, who
is accompanied by his
daughter Sachi in a posh
condominium on the
northside of Santiago
where he is under house
arrest, said the ruling
was not a surprise.
"My plan was to come
through here (Chile) and
substantially reduce the
number of accusations,"
said the former
president, who fled to
Japan in 2000 as his
government collapsed
amidst a major
corruption scandal, but
inexplicably flew to
Chile in late 2005,
where he was immediately
arrested..
The 69-year-old former
president was under
preventive detention in
Chile from Nov. 7, 2005
to May 18, 2006, when he
was released on bail. He
was then placed under
house arrest in June.
Fujimori’s Chilean
defence attorney,
Gabriel Saliasnik, also
said he was not
surprised by the
verdict. He underlined,
however, that the number
of charges faced by
Fujimori have been
sharply whittled down
from the original 60 to
just seven.
In July, Fujimori, who
holds dual
Japanese-Peruvian
nationality, ran in
Japan’s parliamentary
elections for the
far-right People’s New
Party. However, he was
not elected. His attempt
to gain a seat in the
Japanese Senate was
widely interpreted as a
strategy to gain support
from Japan in case he
was extradited to Peru.
On Friday, President
Michelle Bachelet’s
spokesman Ricardo Lagos
Weber underlined Chile’s
"commitment to human
rights" and said the
government would make
sure the ruling was
enforced.
"As a government, we do
not comment on legal
rulings. But I would
like to say that I am
satisfied that the
justice system has been
able to carry out its
job in tranquillity,"
said Bachelet.
The five justices
reached their decision
on Sept. 10, but waited
until it was drawn up
and reviewed before
announcing it. Although
the local press had
heard that the
magistrates had ruled in
favour of extradition,
nothing was certain
until Friday’s official
statement.
"I believe this is a
great joy for the entire
continent," a visibly
moved Raúl Paiba, the
president of the
Committee of Peruvian
Refugees in Chile, told
IPS. Paiba left Peru 15
years ago, fleeing
political persecution.
"Until last night we had
doubts (about the
extradition). It was
unpredictable, but in
the end the people’s
struggle against
impunity won out," said
the activist. He added,
however, that he fears
that the trial of
Fujimori in Peru will
not be rigorous, because
of the alliance that he
said has been formed
between the García
administration and
Fujimori’s supporters.
A press release issued
by the Washington Office
on Latin America (WOLA),
a non-governmental
organisation that
promotes human rights,
democracy, and social
and economic justice in
U.S. policy towards
Latin America, said the
verdict was "a landmark
for the defence of human
rights."
"This is a grand day for
Peru, for Chile, and for
all of the Americas,"
said WOLA senior
associate John Walsh.
"Today’s ruling is a
major blow against
impunity, which has
bedeviled Latin America
for so long."
And Vienna Colucci,
director of Amnesty
International's
International Justice
Programme, said in a
statement that "The
decision sends a strong
message that no one
stands above the law.
Tens of thousands of
people were affected by
the crimes committed
while Alberto Fujimori
was head of state. No
one can undo the
suffering they endured."
"But today, we are one
step closer to seeing
justice served. Amnesty
International USA joins
our colleagues and
allies in Peru and Chile
in celebrating this
victory. Their
persistence ensured that
Fujimori would not
escape accountability."
Human Rights Watch’s
Vivanco said "This
landmark ruling is a
huge step forward for
Chile. After years of
wrestling with
Pinochet’s legacy of
atrocities, Chile is now
building a positive
record on human rights
and justice."
Chilean dictator General
Augusto Pinochet
(1973-1990) died last
year at the age of 91,
without ever coming to
trial for the thousands
of human rights
violations committed by
his regime. |
