Feature
- Bringing Justice Home: Alberto Fujimori on Trial for Corruption and Human Rights Violations in Peru
- Kimbery Theidon
Praxis Institute for Social Justice is a private
non-profit organization focusing on transitional
justice, legal reform, mental health and
community reconstruction in conflict and
post-conflict societies. For more information,
please visit our website www.praxisweb.org.
This article was written collaboratively by Lisa
Laplante, Kelly Phenicie, Ana María Vidal and
Kimberly Theidon.
Introduction
On December 10, 2007, the Special Criminal Court of the Peruvian Supreme Court asked former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori if he was guilty of the murder and kidnapping charges he faced. His response broke the methodic silence he had maintained until then, and his defiant shouts surprised the observers who filled the court chambers, a mix of members of the press, victims, human rights professionals, international experts, and family and friends of Fujimori: "I received this country… in 1990 on the brink of collapse, overwhelmed by hyperinflation, in international financial isolation and with terrorism everywhere." With his voice occasionally cracking, the accused continued for several minutes until he was interrupted—with difficulty—by the court president and asked to give a simple yes or no. Fujimori concluded by exclaiming, "Because of my government, the human rights of twenty-five million Peruvians were rescued, without exception… I reject the charges! Completely! I am innocent!"
Fujimori’s trial follows six years of awaiting his extradition to Peru and marks the first time a former head of state has been extradited to his home country to stand trial for human rights violations. The trial now in progress is a precedent-setting case that will directly impact the developing fields of international criminal justice and transitional justice.
Fujimori’s Presidency, 1990–2000
- Peruvian journalist Gilberto Hume takes the oath before testifying in the human rights trial of Alberto Fujimori. Photo courtesy of Praxis.
Alberto K. Fujimori was elected president of Peru in 1990. As a dark-horse candidate, he offered hope for change in the midst of uncontrollable inflation and a violent internal conflict between the state and two insurgent groups, Shining Path (SL) and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA).
Although elected democratically, Fujimori’s government became increasingly authoritarian in waging a war on terror. On April 5, 1992, with the help of the armedforces Fujimori closed the Peruvian Congress, the judicial branch, and the constitutional court in what he proudly called his "self-coup." Draconian antiterrorist laws promulgated by executive decree in 1992 created a dragnet for silencing dissent, and the paramilitary group Colina carried out some of Peru’s worst massacres, two of which—Barrios Altos and Cantuta—figure among the seven charges for which Fujimori now stands trial.
In 1995 Fujimori was re-elected following a questionable electoral process, and again for a third time in 2000 as the result of an election the Organization of American States described as neither free, nor just, nor competitive. However, in an unexpected turn of events, in September 2000 a video was leaked revealing Fujimori’s "spy chief," Vladimiro Montesinos, bribing a congressman. Hundreds of vladivideos soon surfaced, showing Montesinos bribing members of the press, congress, and the business and entertainment communities. The tapes confirmed long-held suspicions of government corruption, and Montesinos fled to Panama while Fujimori himself slipped out of the country on November 13, 2000. The disgraced president faxed his resignation from Japan six days later.
For the next five years, Fujimori remained in his parents’ native country of Japan, where he was granted citizenship. Interpol released a warrant for his arrest in March 2003, but Peru’s attempts to extradite him faced repeated obstacles.
Initial Steps Toward Justice
Shortly after Fujimori fled Peru, the Peruvian transitional government formed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in 2001. The TRC worked for two years to produce its nine-volume final report in 2003. Of the forty-two cases presented by the TRC to the Public Ministry for Criminal Investigations, eighteen occurred during Fujimori’s presidential tenure. As a result, the government arrested and brought to trial key members of the Colina group. Their testimonies provided incriminating evidence against both Montesinos and Fujimori, bolstering the extradition proceedings against the former president.
On November 6, 2005, Fujimori shocked Peru and the world once again when he abandoned his refuge in Japan and flew to Chile. His trip coincided with Peru’s 2006 presidential elections. He was immediately arrested, and in January 2006 the Peruvian government presented the Chilean Supreme Court with twelve criminal charges as part of the extradition request—ten for corruption and two for human rights violations.
After the Peruvian state appealed the court’s initial denial, Fujimori’s extradition was finally approved on September 21, 2007 for seven of the twelve requested charges—two for human rights and five for corruption. The next day Fujimori was flown to Peru and immediately incarcerated in a specially built prison on the outskirts of Lima.
Fujimori has been charged with the 1991 Barrios Altos murders—the extrajudicial execution of twelve people, including a child, at a neighborhood party—and the execution of nine students and a professor at La Cantuta University, as well as kidnapping and torturing journalist Gustavo Gorriti and businessman Samuel Dyer in the basement of the Army Intelligence Service. All three cases have been grouped into the same trial, in which the state as well as the families of the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta victims are accusing the former president of murder, grave injuries, and kidnapping, and demanding thirty years in prison and civil reparations of 100 million Peruvian Nuevos Soles (US$34 million) for the victims’ families and 300 million Peruvian Nuevos Soles (US $100 million) for Gorriti and Dyer.
Fujimori also faces five other cases for corruption charges: usurpation and abuse of authority, conspiracy, and corruption of state functionaries; embezzlement; crime against public administration and conspiracy; phone tapping; and the illegal purchase of a private television company with public funds. One of these cases has already concluded, resulting in a six-year prison sentence for the former president.
Evidence Incriminates Fujimori
- Alberto Fujimori stands as the trial he faces for murder and kidnapping begins. Photo courtesy of Praxis.
The prosecution’s strategy is to prove the former president had command responsibility for the crimes carried out by the group known as Colina, claiming that, "from the top of the national government, he gave the orders to execute the serious acts which [sic] are the subject of these accumulated trials." Despite Fujimori’s adamant denial, each day a new witness provides more compelling evidence that incriminates him. Both the kidnapping victims (Dyer and Gorriti) and the witnesses of the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta murders have testified regarding the president’s awareness of the crimes.
Most recently, testimonies from several lower-ranking Colina members have indicated that Fujimori was indeed aware of the group and their activities. Agent Julio Chuqui Aguirre testified that he knew Fujimori approved the Barrios Altos massacre because Colina’s leader told him: "I’ve already gotten the green light from the Chino," calling the president by his nickname. Additionally, Colina witnesses are testifying that the group was a military detachment funded by army intelligence rather than a paramilitary unit. The Peruvian press has also adopted this terminology, no longer referring to Colina as "Grupo Colina" (the Colina Group) but "Destacamento Colina" (the Colina Detachment).
Though Fujimori’s lawyer César Nakazaki claims that this testimony helps the defendant owing to its inconsistency, analysts think otherwise. In a February 5 column published in El Comercio, lawyer César Azabache Caracciolo stated, "driven into a type of dead end, Fujimori truly appears paralyzed." Similarly, Augusto Álvarez Rodrich, editor-in-chief of the daily, Peru21, succinctly commented on the former president’s current situation in his Op-Ed column: "not even the witnesses for the defense are helping him."
One of the most anticipated witnesses is Nicolás Hermoza Rios, former head of the armed forces, who formed part of the triumvirate along with Montesinos and Fujimori. In his own trial for Colina’s crimes, Hermoza has already testified that Montesinos expressly told him Fujimori was aware of Colina’s activities. Interestingly, Hermoza and Fujimori share the same defense lawyer— César Nakazaki—and local media has already printed claims that Nakazaki is using the president’s trial to defend Hermoza as well.
Trial Challenges
Though Fujimori is on trial for serious corruption and human rights violations, he still retains a great deal of public support in Peru. His neoliberal policies won favor with large sectors of the business community, and his vast patronage system allowed him to win over the urban and rural poor, many of whom remember him for the roads, schools, and health facilities he built. Most importantly, many Peruvians still believe that he ended terrorism, although the TRC clearly confirms that intelligence work that began years before Fujimori took office actually resulted in the capture of the leaders of the insurgent groups. The still palpable fear of terrorism contributes to the surprising support Fujimori continues to enjoy, thus making this trial especially complicated and controversial.
Before the hearings even began, a memorial commemorating victims of the 1980–2000 internal armed conflict was attacked by vandals who covered it in orange paint—the color of Fujimori’s political party—and who claimed to be Fujimori supporters (i.e., fujimoristas). This tension has also continued inside the courtroom itself, as the families of Barrios Altos and La Cantuta victims claim they feel harassed by the fujimoristas. Gisela Ortiz, leader and spokesperson for the families, reported to the Praxis Institute for Social Justice that Fujimori supporters made comments such as "they were terrorists, they had to be killed" (in reference to the murdered teacher and students at La Cantuta) and "how those terrorists reek, they smell like dynamite" (in reference to the families). The fujimoristas, however, deny these accusations. Threats outside of the courtroom have also been reported. Gloria Cano, one of the lawyers for the victims’ families, and state prosecutor Avellino Guillén have both claimed they received death threats based on their roles in the trial. Moreover, several witnesses have reported receiving threats prior to testifying. The fujimoristas have denied any links to these threats.
In addition to the controversies regarding the former president, one of the greatest challenges facing the trial is the Peruvian justice system itself. As with many postconflict settings, the justice system is viewed with distrust by many citizens owing to its history of corruption and collusion.
Ensuring Justice
In an effort to ensure due process and legal transparency, both national and international human rights organizations have been monitoring the trial. The Peruvian-based Association Pro Human Rights (APRODEH) and the National Coordinator for Human Rights (CNDDHH) both have Web sites following the trial in Spanish, and the U.S.- based Praxis Institute for Social Justice (www.praxisweb.org) has established a bilingual blog that provides updates on the trial and expert legal analysis. The Praxis blog (www.fujimoriontrial.org) offers first-hand trial coverage, local news, interviews, articles, and commentaries provided by its expert legal team, legal scholars, students, and victim-survivors.
Indifference is one of the obstacles to achieving justice, and the task of drawing attention to a significant case like this one is crucial. The trial of Alberto Fujimori has the potential to send a message to current heads of state around the world, warning that they too may be held responsible for their actions; despite their power, leaders are no longer beyond the increasingly global reach of justice.
Kimberly Theidon, Executive Director of Praxis, is a medical anthropologist focusing on Latin America. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University and a Faculty Associate of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. Her book, Intimate Enemies: Violence and Reconciliation in Peru is forthcoming from Stanford University Press.