Peru Grants Amnesty for Military Crimes Committed Decades Ago 

Peruvian President Dina Boluarte on Wednesday signed into law a controversial bill providing amnesty to military personnel, police, and members of civilian self-defense groups accused of human rights abuses during the violent 1980-2000 fight against the Mao-inspired Shining Path insurgents, the Guardian reported. 

The legislation was created for those uniformed personnel who are on trial but not yet convicted of crimes committed during the conflict between the military and the Shining Path, which led a bloody campaign to overthrow the government, the Associated Press added. 

Also, those convicted who are currently over 70 will be released. 

During the two-decade fight against the rebel group, about 70,000 people were killed and 20,000 “disappeared,” France 24 noted.   

According to Peru’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, most of the victims were Indigenous Peruvians caught up in clashes between security forces and Shining Path. It said the fighting led to over 4,000 secret graves in the country.  

United Nations experts, who urged Boluarte to veto the law and investigate the killings and the disappearances, said it could influence 156 closed cases and more than 600 that are still open. 

Human rights watchdogs, including Human Rights Watch, strongly criticized the bill, describing it as “a betrayal of Peruvian victims.” HRW added that the law damages Peru’s attempts to guarantee accountability for atrocities, further threatening the country’s rule of law. 

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights urged Peru to “immediately suspend” the approval of the law – or refrain from applying it if already enacted – while the court assesses how the amnesty would impact victims’ rights. 

Meanwhile, Boluarte, who has less than a year left in office and whose approval ratings are in the single digits, said the bill is the government’s way of paying tribute to the military and self-defense groups that fought terrorism. 

Far-right political parties that have traditionally sided with the military, such as Popular Force, welcomed the law. 

Peru has passed similar amnesty laws in 1995 and 2024.  

In 2023, it pardoned former President Alberto Fujimori, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for human rights violations carried out during his term of office, from 1990-2000.