• Former President Alberto Fujimori is serving a 25-year prison sentence for human rights violations, including killings and "disappearances," during his first presidency. Progress in holding others responsible for abuses during Peru's internal armed conflict is slow. The military's refusal to provide information continues to obstruct judicial investigations, and most perpetrators have evaded justice.

    In recent years there have been a rising number of conflicts involving communities protesting actions taken by the government or by mining and other companies. These have in several cases resulted in violent clashes between protesters and police, with fatalities on both sides.  

  • In the June 2011 elections, Ollanta Humala, a former army colonel, won a narrow victory over Keiko Fujimori, daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori. Fujimori is serving a 25-year prison sentence for human rights violations during his first presidency.

Reports

Peru

  • May 15, 2012

    Peru should remove significant barriers preventing people with disabilities from exercising their right to vote and other civil rights. The failure to dismantle the obstacles is undermining Peru’s leadership as one of the first countries to ratify, in 2008, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

  • Apr 12, 2012
    This memorandum, submitted to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ahead of its upcoming review of Peru highlights areas of concern that Human Rights Watch hopes will inform the Committee’s consideration of the Peruvian government’s compliance with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
  • Apr 2, 2012
    Human Rights Watch expresses its concern about Law No. 29737 and related provisions in Peruvian law that permit involuntary detention for treatment of people with psychosocial or mental disabilities and those who suffer from addiction, in circumstances that do not comply with international human rights law.
  • Feb 9, 2012
    On Jan. 28 in Lima, Peru, 27 people were killed and at least five others critically injured by a fire that swept through Christ is Love, a privately run drug rehabilitation facility. Witnesses said patients started the fire in an effort to escape, after a caretaker refused to release them.Firemen on the scene reported terrible overcrowding -- up to 70 people, 18 to a room, in a facility equipped for 12. Who would blame them for trying to escape?
  • Oct 17, 2011

    Peru’s decision to restore voting rights to thousands of people with disabilities is an important step toward ensuring their full participation in society.  More than 23,000 people with mental and intellectual disabilities had been excluded from the voter registry for the 2011 presidential elections in April and June based on previous government policy. 

  • Jun 16, 2011
    Arbitrarily releasing former President Alberto Fujimori from serving his full prison sentence for human rights crimes would be incompatible with Peru’s obligations under international law. Fujimori recently received medical treatment, and there have been some calls for a “humanitarian pardon.”
  • Apr 8, 2011
    Peru should conduct a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation into the killing of 3 demonstrators and injuring of at least 31 others during confrontations with the police in Islay province.
  • Sep 10, 2010
    Peru should amend recently adopted presidential decrees that regulate the prosecution and trials of military and police personnel accused of committing human rights violations.
  • Jun 22, 2010
    Analysis of the binding interpretation of the crime of enforced disappearance handed down by the Peruvian Supreme Court in its Plenary Accord 9-2009/CJ-11.
  • Apr 6, 2010
    Peru should conduct a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation into the killing of 6 civilians during a confrontation with the police in Chala, Human Rights Watch said today.