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Regarding the recent ruling issued by Peru's Constitutional Court on the restitution of the pardon granted to former president Alberto Fujimori in 2017, an expert revealed that there is a possibility that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) could order its annulment.
Valeria Reyes, who is a professor at the Lima-based Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP) and a researcher at the PUCP's Institute of Democracy and Human Rights, said that the IACHR could urge the Peruvian State to annul said ruling in an attempt to reverse the situation and guarantee respect for victims' rights.
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The expert noted that the pardon granted by President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in 2018 was annulled that same year by the Supreme Court following an order by the IACHR to the Peruvian justice system to review the conditions under which the pardon was granted.
The IACHR would ratify its position on granting the pardon to the former president, for strictly legal and not political reasons, remarked Reyes. He stressed that there had been no jurisprudential twist that would allow assuming that the IACHR would change its criteria since its public position. The IACHR Court applies the same rules with the same assumption, said the expert.
Reyes pointed out that the Court has a period of hearings in the first week of April, so it could put this one on the schedule despite not having a foreseeable deadline to deal with this type of issue. Therefore, there could be a decision in two or three months; the expert also pointed out.
Peruvian NGOs are asking the IACHR Court to issue a resolution to cancel Fujimori's release #CNDDHH #NoAlaImpunidad https://t.co/tfp65wIJ6r
— Jana Van Braeckel (@JanaVanBraeckel) March 18, 2022
In addition, Reyes remarked that the IACHR Court's ruling addressed the issue of Fujimori's health, which is one of the reasons he was granted the pardon. She warned that according to a pronouncement by the Court, the first obligation of the Peruvian State in relation to Alberto Fujimori's right to health is to guarantee it while he is in prison since this is a case that involves serious human rights violations.
In relation to the possible release from prison of former president Alberto Fujimori, which is expected for this week, Reyes said that the content of the ruling is not yet known, so it could directly order Fujimori's immediate release or transfer jurisdiction to a criminal judge.
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