Peru Support Group comment on appointment of Sousa

Amy Horton of the Peru Support Group, a UK-based human rights organisation, said, The conviction in 2009 of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori for ordering massacres and other crimes was a global landmark in ending impunity for state violence. We share the concerns of Peruvian civil society that the appointment of Rolando Sousa, a consistent advocate of Fujimoris, to the constitutional court could undermine efforts to ensure accountability for crimes during Perus internal conflict. www.perusupportgroup.org.uk Contact: 00447905482707; Skype: peru.support.group

Judicial and human rights carve-up a step backwards for Peruvian democracy
Human rights groups have said that political dealings in the selection of key officials could undermine the legitimacy of Perus democratic institutions and efforts to end impunity for crimes. They say the new appointees will bring partisan interests to bear on key institutions of the state that should stand above party politics. Street protests against the appointments met with a violent response from the police. Late yesterday members of Congress voted in candidates for the new human rights ombudsperson and six constitutional court judges. But evidence of political horse-trading to agree their selection put the democratic institutional framework at risk, said 81 human rights groups represented by the national Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos. A leaked audio recording that emerged earlier in the week revealed representatives of political parties discussing quotas for their groupings. The ruling Gana Per coalition, the pro-government Per Posible and the pro-Fujimori Fuerza Popular have all been implicated. Fujimori advocate joins constitutional court Among the six candidates elected as constitutional court judges was Rolando Sousa, who has close links to former president Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000). Sousa represented Fujimori in the trial in which the ex-president was convicted of human rights crimes and corruption. In 2006 Sousa stood as a fujimorista candidate for the vice-presidency of Congress under the slogan, Send me to Congress to defend Fujimori. His other clients have included members of the Colina death squad and he is currently defending the parliamentarian Alejandro Aguinaga against charges relating to the forced sterilisation of thousands of women during the 1990s. Sousa also promoted the decree which allows human rights cases to be closed if no sentence has been handed down after three years, affording impunity to some of the accused in the Colina death squad. Relatives of those killed in the 1992 La Cantuta massacre by the Colina death squad said Sousas election was an affront. They expressed concern that his appointment could boost Fujimoris bid for his release from prison. Prior to the elections, the Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos issued a joint statement by 81 organisations saying that Sousas election would be absurd and inadmissible as his career had

been dedicated to obtaining impunity for perpetrators of crimes against human rights. They also raised concerns about the records of his fellow candidates Vctor Mayorga y Cayo Galindo, but welcomed the appointments of Francisco Eguiguren and Ernesto Blume Fortini to the court. Lima councillor lawyer to head up human rights body Lima councillor Pilar Freitas was voted in as the new Defensora del Pueblo (human rights ombudsperson). She has come under fire for her ethical record. The Instituto de Defensa Legal said that Freitas past involvement in the judicial reforms that gave Fujimori, when president, extensive control of the system would undermine the Defensora. Freitas also served as the prosecutor against the businessman Baruch Ivcher during the Fujimori administration, in what was considered an illegal move to take control of the Frecuencia Latina television network. Critics added that her active involvement in the Per Posible party should disqualify her, but Freitas said that she would step down from the party in order to carry out her role independently. Police accused of excessive force at protests As the voting took place, hundreds of people took part in a protest organised by the Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos. Police fired teargas to disperse protesters from Limas central square. Marco Arana, leader of the Movimiento Tierra y Libertad (Land and Freedom Movement), described the manoeuvrings as a dark and denigrating agreement and called for the newly elected officials to resign. He also criticised the policing of the protest as heavy-handed, which he said was symptomatic of a wider attack on the right to peaceful protest.