Peru’s Boluarte pardons security forces for abuses during decades-long internal conflict

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By Marco Aquino

LIMA (Reuters) -Peru President Dina Boluarte signed a law on Wednesday pardoning military and police officers accused of human rights abuses committed from 1980 to 2000 during a bitter fight with leftist rebels.

The law, approved by Congress in July, was enacted despite a request from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which urged Peru’s government not to pass the bill to ensure “victims can get justice.”

It also asked courts to not enforce the law.

“With the enactment of this pardon law, the Peruvian government and Congress recognize the sacrifice of members of the armed forces, the police and self-defense groups in the fight against terrorism,” Boluarte said in a speech.

“We’re giving them back the dignity that should never have been questioned.”

According to the national human rights coordinator, the pardon will effectively halt or overturn more than 600 pending trials and 156 sentences against security officials for abuses committed during clashes with insurgent groups like the Shining Path.

The conflict resulted in an estimated 69,000 deaths and disappearances.

Lawmakers from the right-wing Popular Force party, which backed the measure, argued the law was necessary to end hundreds of trials that have stalled for over two decades without a verdict.

The party was founded by the late former president Alberto Fujimori, who died in September. Fujimori had been sentenced to 25 years in prison for human rights abuses committed during his presidency before receiving a pardon in 2023.

The law comes as Boluarte faces an investigation for the deaths of protesters after she took office in late 2022. Her public approval rating has fallen to historic lows.

(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Benjamín Mejías Valencia; Editing by Brendan O’Boyle, Kylie Madry and Alistair Bell)