Peru Won't Annul Fujimori's Pardon: Kuczynski’s Staff Chief

Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski's Chief of Staff, Mercedes Araoz, said during a recent interview that the government will uphold Fujimori's "humanitarian" pardon, even if the Inter-American Court of Human Rights requests its annulment. 

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During the interview, Araoz denied the existence of a pact between Kuczynski, also known as PPK, and "fujimorista" members of Congress. However, she was unable to explain the sudden decision by Fujimori's son and ten other legislators to abstain in Congress' vote to impeach PPK.   

She also defended PPK's decision to grant Fujimori a highly controversial pardon that was met with massive protests, stating: "The Constitution is clear on the President's faculty to grant pardons. Only and exclusively the President's. We have to obey what our Constitution says."

Last Thursday, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights released a statement expressing "its profound concern" over the pardon.

The statement argued that "Alberto Fujimori's pardon doesn't meet the fundamental legal prerequisites, nor the elements of due legal process, and independence and transparency of the technical evaluation." Furthermore, the Commission rejected the pardon "because it is a decision that goes against Peru's international obligations."

This February, the Inter-American Court will hold a hearing to determine if Peru has fulfilled its obligations regarding the Barrios Altos and Cantuta cases that led to Fujimori's conviction by the court in 2009 for crimes against humanity.

Fujimori is also linked to forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the war against insurgent groups Shining Path and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement as well as the forced sterilization of approximately 300,000 women between 1996 and 2000. He has not been convicted for these crimes.