Peru prosecution: Statute of limitations on 4,172 cases of forced sterilisation under Fujimori
Peru's prosecution closed the case into thousands of forced sterilisations of indigenous women (1990–2000), citing a 2024 law. 52 suspects are cleared.
Statute of limitations on forced sterilisations under Fujimori — 52 suspects cleared
Peru's prosecution closed the case into forced sterilisations of thousands of indigenous women during the presidency of Alberto Fujimori (1990–2000), invoking the statute of limitations, according to reports.
The basis for the decision was legislation from 2024, which bars the classification of punishable acts committed before July 2002 as war crimes or crimes against humanity. Human rights defenders have characterised the law as a guarantee of "impunity".
Prosecutors examined complaints from 4,172 women, who reported serious injuries from the procedures. At least five women died as a result. Most victims were poor indigenous residents of Peru's provinces.
The decision clears a total of 52 suspects, including three former health ministers from the Fujimori government — father of current president Keiko Fujimori. The Fujimori government consistently denied that it had conducted an organised sterilisation campaign.
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women has assessed that this practice could constitute a crime against humanity.
"We are absolutely outraged by this decision, we will lodge an appeal with a senior prosecutor so that it is examined" whether the case could have been closed, declared Rosio Silva-Santisteban, director of the feminist organisation Demus, to AFP.
The national human rights coordinator condemned the statute of limitations and called on the prosecution to reconsider. She recalled a ruling from March by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which recognised "the international responsibility of the Peruvian state" for the death, in 1997, of a woman who had undergone forced sterilisation within the same case.
Alberto Fujimori, convicted of crimes against humanity, died in 2024. He had been granted a pardon in 2018 by then-president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, on grounds of "humanitarian" reasons.
Source: Naftemporiki