LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru's Congress on Thursday passed a law establishing a statute of limitations for crimes against humanity committed before 2002, a decision that human rights organizations have warned could encourage impunity and thwart investigations into serious abuses.
It could also benefit figures including former president Alberto Fujimori and retired military personnel accused of — or even convicted for — crimes committed between 1980 and 2000 during an internal armed conflict that left thousands of victims.
According to the Peruvian prosecutor's office, the legislation will have a direct impact on 550 victims and 600 cases, including investigations and judicial processes that would be archived or dismissed by statute of limitations.
Fujimori, who governed Peru from 1990 to 2000, was sentenced in 2009 on charges of human rights abuses. He was accused of being the mastermind behind the killings of the 25 Peruvians while the government fought the Shining Path communist rebels.
The new law, in fact, was promoted by the right-wing Popular Force (FP) party, led by Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of former president Fujimori, and it states that “no one will be prosecuted, condemned or sanctioned for war crimes or crimes against humanity committed prior to July 1, 2002."
Initially approved in June, the law needed a second vote that took place Thursday.
Peruvian President Dina Boluarte can either enact the law or return it to Congress with further recommendations. Boluarte has not said what she will do.
Several lawmakers who were military and navy personnel during the armed internal conflict support the law.
The Institute of Democracy and Human Rights of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru said in a statement that “the law aims to limit the application of internal justice through the extinction of any criminal liability due to the passage of time.”
In June, several human rights organizations in Peru warned that if the law were to be approved, impunity would be promoted in all cases that are part of the internal armed conflict from 1980 to 2000, including a famous trial in which former President Fujimori was accused of the 1992 massacre of six farmers executed by a clandestine group of soldiers.
Earlier this year, former Peruvian intelligence chief Vladimiro Montesinos and a close aide of Fujimori was sentenced to 19 years and eight months in prison in connection with the 1992 massacre.
According to a truth commission that studied the period of the conflict, the victims were mostly Indigenous people caught in clashes between security forces and members of the Shining Path rebel group. The commission estimates that the conflict killed 70,000 people.
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Peru's President Dina Boluarte gives a statement to the press during an official visit by Ecuadorean counterpart Daniel Noboa to the government palace in Lima, Peru, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)
France votes Sunday in pivotal runoff elections that could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision — or produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock.
Sunday’s snap elections in this nuclear-armed nation have potential impact on the war in Ukraine, global diplomacy and Europe’s economic stability. And they’re almost certain to undercut President Emmanuel Macron for the remaining three years of his presidency. France could have its first far-right government since the Nazi occupation in World War II if the National Rally wins an absolute majority and its 28-year-old leader Jordan Bardella becomes prime minister.
Racism and antisemitism have marred the electoral campaign, along with Russian cybercampaigns, and more than 50 candidates reported being physically attacked — highly unusual for France. The government is deploying 30,000 police on voting day.
The second-round voting began Saturday in France’s overseas territories from the South Pacific to the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and North Atlantic. The elections wrap up Sunday at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) in mainland France. Initial polling projections are expected Sunday night, with early official results expected late Sunday and early Monday.
Here’s the latest:
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal cast his ballot in the Paris suburb of Vanves Sunday morning.
Macron is expected to vote later in the seaside town of La Touquet, while Le Pen is not voting after winning her district in northern France outright last week. Across France, 76 other candidates secured seats in the first round, including 39 from her National Rally and 32 from the leftist New Popular Front alliance. Two candidates from Macron’s centrists list also won their seats in the first round.
Voting opened Sunday in mainland France for the second round of high-stake legislative elections that have already seen the largest gains ever for the country’s far-right National Rally party.
French President Emmanuel Macron took a huge gamble in dissolving parliament and calling for the elections after his centrists were trounced in European elections on June 9. The first round on June 30 saw the largest gains ever for the anti-immigration, nationalist National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen. Sunday’s vote determines which party controls the National Assembly and who will be prime minister.
If support is further eroded for Macron’s weak centrist majority, he will be forced to share power with parties opposed to most of his pro-business, pro-European Union policies.
The second-round voting began Saturday in France’s overseas territories from the South Pacific to the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and North Atlantic. The elections wrap up Sunday at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) in mainland France. Initial polling projections are expected Sunday night, with early official results expected late Sunday and early Monday.
Opposition parties made hurried deals ahead of Sunday's second round of voting to try to block a landslide victory for Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally in the legislative elections, as she said her party would lead the government only if it won an absolute majority — or close to it.
An unprecedented number of candidates who qualified for Round 2 from the left-wing alliance of the New Popular Front and from President Emmanuel Macron’s weakened centrists have stepped aside to favor the candidate most likely to win against a National Rally opponent.
According to a count by French newspaper Le Monde, some 218 candidates who were supposed to compete in the second round have pulled out. Of those, 130 were on the left, and 82 came from the Macron-led centrist alliance Ensemble.
A voter, left, casts his ballot for the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Paris. France votes Sunday in pivotal runoff elections that could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision — or produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, leaves the polling booth before voting for the second round of the legislative election, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Vanves, outside Paris. Voting has begun in mainland France on Sunday in pivotal runoff elections that could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision — or produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock. (Alain Jocard, Pool via AP)
A man picks up ballots in a the voting station during the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Olwisheim , eastern France. France votes Sunday in pivotal runoff elections that could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision — or produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
A voter places his ballot in the envelope during the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Paris. France votes Sunday in pivotal runoff elections that could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision — or produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)
A man votes in the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Strasbourg, eastern France. France votes Sunday in pivotal runoff elections that could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision — or produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
A voter leaves the voting booth before voting in the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Strasbourg, eastern France. France votes Sunday in pivotal runoff elections that could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision — or produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
A woman casts her ballot in the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Strasbourg, eastern France. France votes Sunday in pivotal runoff elections that could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision — or produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
A voter takes ballots before voting in the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Strasbourg, eastern France. France votes Sunday in pivotal runoff elections that could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision — or produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
FILE - French President Emmanuel Macron leaves the voting booth before voting in the early French parliamentary election, in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, northern France, Sunday, June 30, 2024. Whatever the outcome of Sunday's runoff is, it's not expected to be a good news for Macron. French media have recently described an "end of reign" atmosphere at the Elysee presidential palace. (Yara Nardi, Pool via AP, File)
FILE - Far-right National Rally party president Jordan Bardella, right, leaves with far-right leader Marine Le Pen after a press conference, Monday, June 24, 2024 in Paris. Both Le Pen and Bardella have made clear that, in power, they would seek to rein-in Macron and exert themselves in defense, European and foreign affairs decision-making. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)
Local city officials prepare voting kits for the legislative election in Strasbourg, eastern France, on Saturday, July 6, 2024. Voters face a decisive choice in the runoff Sunday of snap parliamentary elections that could produce the country’s first far-right government since the World War II Nazi occupation. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
Local city officials prepare voting kits for the legislative election in Strasbourg, eastern France, on Saturday, July 6, 2024. Voters face a decisive choice in the runoff Sunday of snap parliamentary elections that could produce the country’s first far-right government since the World War II Nazi occupation. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
