Peru: Forced Sterilizations Trial Dismissed Amid Political Disputes

Victims of forced sterilizations on Monday rejected the dismissal of their case for crimes against humanity against the Peruvian state. A court dismissed the case against former dictator Alberto Fujimori and 6 of the members of his Ministry of Health.

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The investigations found that out of 2,636 women interviewed, 397 claim they were forcefully sterilized. Hoever, such rate was not considered enough for the court authorities. Reactions to the dismissal caused confrontations between elected progressive forces and members of Fujimori’s party, Fuerza Social in Congress. One of the former ministers of Fujimori accused was recently re-elected congressman for Fuerza Social. 

Representatives of the victims and their lawyers held a press conference on Monday. Esperanza Huayama was one of the victims present at the event. She was sterilized without knowing when she went to a public clinic for a check up on her unborn baby. With a breaking voice she told her story explaining she does not like to do so but she understand it is necessary to speak out in order to seek justice. She explained that when the fetus was eight months old she had a miscarriage and that is when she found out she could no longer become pregnant. She then raised her voice and claimed that by dismissing the case the authorities are saying they are not telling the truth and are mocking their suffering. She also explained that she did not now how to read or spoke Spanish well and could not have agreed to something she did not understand. “They forced us when Fujimori was president with all his ministers and also his doctors. That is the true. And they mock us women who are poor, humble, farmers, who didn’t know how to read.” she concluded.

The prosecuting lawyers accused the government of Fujimori of having forced sterilizations as a state policy for population control and of focusing on indigenous non-Spanish speaking rural women. One of the lawyers, Juan José Quispe, argued that the most unacceptable part of the document explaining the dismissal is that it claims that the fingerprints of sterilized women who did not speak Spanish or knew how to read where accepted as proof of consent for the sterilizations.

Another lawyer and director of the Legal Defense Institute, Carlos Rivera, noted that it was unacceptable for the judges to claim the burden of proof of the lack of consent is on the victims. He also believes there are political machinations behind the dismissal of the case since Fujimori's party is still strong and maintains control of Congress. He says proof of such machinations is that the decision was made at a time when public attention was focused on the inauguration ceremony of the new president.

“We were surprised by the coming out of the resolution a minute before the presidential speech.  It was truly strange," Rivera stated. "Experience tells us that when things like these happen, it is because the judges don’t want their resolutions questioned. Or at least they don’t want to prevent the negative effects they know those resolutions can cause.”

During the inauguration ceremony, progressive members of Congress from the Frente Amplio party were notified of the decision. They responded by holding a demonstration in support of the victims of forced sterilizations while raising signs depicting uteri with blood. Members of Fujimori's party have responded to the action threatening those who participated with “at least sanction by the Ethics Committee.” Congressman Luis Galarreta, for example, claimed that “they must care little for the institutions of the State to commit such an bratty act.” 

Meanwhile, the victims are appealing the dismissal of the case to a higher instance and are considering taking it to an international court. They have also called on the newly elected President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski to intervene. The president is under pressure because during elections he signed a commitment to help these women find justice in order to gain the votes of the forces rejecting Fujimorismo.