The Peruvian government’s decision this month to revoke the broadcast license of a local radio station could have a chilling effect on community broadcasting in Peru. The timing and circumstances of the revocation suggest that it may have been an act of censorship, or punishment, in response to coverage of anti-government protests on June 5, 2009.

We have received credible reports that police forces violently attempted to end a demonstration by indigenous groups in the province of Bagua on Friday, June 5. The demonstration came at the end of several weeks of protests demanding that the García administration abandon a series of legislative decrees that would facilitate economic activities in the Peruvian Amazon.

Standing in the packed courtroom annex as a Supreme Court panel this week sentenced the former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori to 25 years in prison for two massacres and two kidnappings, I had mixed emotions.

Today's conviction of Alberto Fujimori, former president of Peru, is a major advance for human rights accountability in the region and beyond.

The trial of former President Alberto Fujimori of Peru for human rights abuses has been conducted in a fair and thorough manner, Human Rights Watch said today.

The Peruvian government's deliberate refusal to streamline procedures and approve guidelines for legal abortion is endangering the lives and health of women and girls who are often forced to use unsafe solutions for risky pregnancies.

Justice for past abuses is a leading human rights concern in Peru. While authorities have made some progress in holding accountable those responsible for some abuses committed during its 20-year armed conflict (1980-2000), most perpetrators continue to evade justice. Investigations of massacres and “disappearances” by government forces have been held up in part by lack of military cooperation. Other human rights concerns in Peru include torture and ill-treatment of criminal suspects , violence against journalists in some parts of the country, and government efforts to regulate nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).